A Warrior Reborn
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: The Meteor G crisis is over. Everyone has adjusted to daily routines and they're behaving in a carefree manner until a crisis knocks at their door: Hoshikawa Subaru vanishes and, all of a sudden, a conspiracy seems to show up out of the blue. The Satella Police members will have to fight so as to figure out the "real" truth of things and to figure out who the real enemy is...
1. Prologue: The Scheme

**A Warrior Reborn **

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Prologue: The scheme**

08:05 AM (Japan Time), Friday July the 4th, 2204….

"… Let's check with him: we'll soon execute the scheme…"

An unidentified man standing inside of a largely unlit room picked up a Hunter – VG device from a small wooden desk and browsed through its menus before pressing a finger on one app's icon: a communication window formed and displayed another unidentified man.

"Good morning." The caller greeted.

"Good morning, sir. Did the new ginger beef cause you an aching throat after eating it, sir?" The second person asked.

"Yeah. Too much for my taste."

"Week's password confirmed… I am sorry for the delay, but one is wary of security."

"No problem… Anyway… It's about the "scheme"… We can pull it off already this weekend." The caller announced.

"Everything goes according to the scheme, then… Is the "IQ Front" safe enough to pull this off?"

"I wouldn't have called you if we weren't sure. "IQ" is going on another expedition… If we want to act, there's no choice but to do it now. All preparations are complete in our side."

"Excellent… Then… When do we start? Saturday? Sunday?"

"Hmmm… Maybe tomorrow would do fine… Have you finished arranging for the decoy vans?"

"Correct. There was no real problem given how everyone seems to be eager to buy a lot nowadays…"

"Good. Oh. True, true… Did you get the "medicine" I sent to you?"

"We did and tested it out using lab mice… Its effects work exactly like they are supposed to do and it lasts for about two hours… It should be enough, I think… It's not like I favor such a method, yet… It's the only way to make the "cover" be believable in case "IQ" suddenly begins questioning things or snooping around…" The man on the other end of the line sighed and didn't sound glad of it.

"I know! And we really would have preferred to use something else, but since Boss knows how "IQ" thinks, then this will be enough to throw its suspicions off… And think that this is sweet compared to what "IQ" could do to those children…" The caller sounded slightly annoyed.

"My apologies… Did I anger you, sir?"

"Don't worry… I was rambling aloud again… Boss is passing some of his bad habits into me despite my constant insistence that he should try to take some days off to rest from time to time…"

"Well then… How should we proceed from that point?"

"That's where we come in. I've set a location up and have a good position to approach that person directly… It won't be hard to convince them, really, given the circumstances which will take place." The speaker shrugged.

"I see. What should we do? Continue to fool "IQ" with half-faked reports would do fine?"

"Yeah. "IQ" is too arrogant to question those: it really thinks we're all its puppets to dance at the tune of its flute. But that's where it's totally mistaken: we won't cooperate with such a villain anymore. But… Well. You know what I mean."

"I do, sir, I do… I thought Mr. Sponsor was working on a method to end the ugly business "IQ" controls… Am I correct?"

"Yeah. But it'll take time and effort. This "Scheme" will work as a cover to hide the development of such a strategy."

"Perfect, then… Should we also keep an eye out for the investigations of the Satella Police?"

"Why not… I guess "O" will be able to distract them, too…"

A door suddenly squeaked open at a slow speed and the caller quickly looked towards the right: there didn't seem to be anyone coming inside, though.

"… O. I know it's you. Stop playing with Boss' new stealth camouflage device which he installed into you… I'm in the middle of a talk with Mr. D. and I don't need your weird humor to butt in."

"My, my! That's some language, Doc." An amused voice rang out of nowhere.

"I know. Go tell those simulations of yours they're fired."

"Yeah! They're fired and carried away to the recycle bin."

"Very funny." The caller growled.

"My, my! _Danna_! It'd seem ya need some rumblin' and shakin' 'round the corner!"

"I don't: tell that to the cook and see if you can stop him from coming up with weird sauces."

"Sure thing, but firstly…"

"What?"

"Let's turn on the lights."

"No need to."

"Wanna play enigmatic conspirator?"

"Maybe."

"Ya sound like a lawyer."

"You sound like a King Land comedy show man. Run off." The "Doc" grumbled next.

"Through the backdoor?"

"Whatever!"

"I'll take that as a "yeah", I guess… Yo! Mr. D. Playin' with your SAA revolvers 'till ya meet the mark?"

"I am afraid we are in the middle of polishing up some important details, Mr. O… We would appreciate some privacy."

"That sounds like…"

"Grjftx! It's none of that: it's about the "Scheme"! We're going to pull it off tomorrow!"

"Oho. So my turn to shine as hidden techniques instructor came?"

"It came. So get your boots moving and get into the "B Point" already: I need you to be there by tomorrow and take care of some aspects while I handle "A Point", gotcha?"

"Gotchi, gotchu, gotche, gotcho, gotcha." The newcomer came up with a rhyme.

"Turn off that stupid device already!" The caller growled.

"Take off that doctor's mask."

"What "doctor's mask" you mean? I AM a doctor!"

"Ask Mr. Universe via that Hunter – VG ya have in your hands, Dr. House XVI!"

"Very funny!"

"No, no… Very _original_."

"Go to the VR simulator and leave us alone already before Boss gets another bad mood!"

"Ops. Then I'll go tell those simulated guys that they need some surgery to patch up the mess they are."

"Get outta this room NOW!"

"Sure thing, Danna."

"MOVE!"

The door slammed shut and some footsteps were heard running down along metallic floor followed by some beeps and the sound of another door opening and closing.

"Phew! Sorry for the outburst, but… I really did prefer O. back when he was serious and only cared about the mission… But Boss decided that was too "stiff" and added him a more "dynamic" personality… He now seems to catch on cheap humor and build up jokes from it." The caller sighed and rolled his eyes.

"HRA~H! HAH! YAH! HRYA~H!" Some yells suddenly echoed in the room along with terrific noises.

"O! You've hijacked the PA system to output the audio from the VR Room, didn't you? Stop it already before Boss comes back or else things will get ugly!"

"Ya don't have any sense of thrill, Doc – sama~!" O. replied through the PA speakers.

"Thrill leads to disaster!"

"Disaster leads to comedy."

"Be serious!"

"Be cooler."

"Switch the PA off!"

"Switch the engines on."

"We don't need to change orbit!"

"We're gonna meet Ms. Moon, then?"

"NO!" The caller roared.

"Please…" The man on the other end fumed.

"Do ya really believe we'll find that lovely panorama inside of it and play tag with four guys plus have an epic battle with a fifth guy?"

"That's an old game system which came out AGES ago and I dunno why you bother to look it up!"

"'Cause I'm a _connoisseur_, ya know, Doc."

"Grjftx! I'm about to come inside and manually switch you off!"

"Oho. I'd like to see ya tryin'."

"Gra~h! Enough! You're driving me crazy and I need to be calm and collected by Sunday!"

"Sure thing: ask the cook for his new "Confucius black & white tea" to cool it off, Doc – sama!"

The man violently opened his door, came out into a curved corridor with poor lighting, walked down some steps and stopped in front of an armored door labeled "VR ROOM #04" to begin punching digits into a control panel next to it: the panel beeped and a red LED came in.

"There. All PA has been manually switched off and I've locked it from the outside with the master code which only Boss and I know. I'll let you later once you stop fooling around." The man muttered.

"Fine! I'll have plenty of time to play Boss Rush: those ugly and cheap FM Aliens come first followed by their big and dangerous teethed toy of mass destruction." O. didn't sound concerned in the least.

"Whatever! There'll be a system like that on "B Point", too, and you're gonna _live there_ with _me_ during the execution of the "Scheme", so you better get ready to play the loyal aide!"

"Loyal aide…? Well... But that won't stop me of trolling our "guest" a hundred times over and over again."

"Jeez! If I found a way to switch your "humor" then life would be a million times easier!"

"Let's go kaboom and boom with the ugly aliens!"

"Whatever!"

The man violently headed back into the room and slammed the door shut while fuming: he sat down atop a bed and mumbled something before picking up the Hunter – VG.

"Anyway… I'm counting on you, Mr. D."

"Please leave it to us, sir."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The "Doc" switched off the Hunter – VG and left it atop the desk to then begin pacing around the room in an obviously nervous manner.

"I need something to cool off… I'm gonna talk with the cook and try to straighten him out before having a small snack and a glass of water which can't do any harm, really."

He holstered the Hunter – VG on the right side of the waist and came out of the room to then walk down the corridor past the VR Room: the door and wall vibrated as if to indicate the level of activity going on inside.

"Well… He can boast all he wants, but if his systems detect excessive heating, then he'll have to enter the mandatory "Cool-down" mode and cancel combat mode for a while." He muttered with a shrug.

"Bwah, hah, hah, ha~h! How's that one like, you _Swan Lake_ rip-off jerk? I'm beatin' ya a hundred times over and plucking each of your ugly ripped-off feathers! Those toy ducks of yours would do good merchandise as bath-time playmates!" O. suddenly laughed in a hysterical manner and his voice echoed through the metal.

"Really… He's gotten into his "mood" and now will proceed to slowly and carefully "slaughter" that Cygnus Wing VR recreation… They're recreations, so… No big deal. I hope he holds back in a real battle."

"Yo! Doc – sama~! Tell the cook that he'll make it to the Guinness Book of Records 2204!" O. called out to him.

"No way…" The "Doc" groaned.

"Way to go!"

"Shut up…"

"Shut down."

"Yeah! Shut down and leave me alone!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm a genius, yessir."

"Show me proof of it."

"Delighted, Holmes XXVIII."

"Stop making up ridiculous titles!"

"They aren't "ridiculous", they're "original", I'd say."

"You sound like a prosecutor." The "Doc" made a smug smile.

"No way…" O. groaned.

"Eye for an eye."

"Catchy."

"It's an irony."

"Really? I'd rather say that's a 5cm wide grin."

"Hmpf. Boast while you can."

"Oho. This guy still pretends to tackle the great me, it'd seem… Let's go _Mario Style_! Hop! Heh, heh!"

"Yo! Doc! There's no escape from my terrifying voice! This guy is a diehard type! Hear me out! I'm gonna go for the finishing blow and if you think this is too explicit, then tell that to CERO so that they re-rate this scene…"

There was a sound like a sword plunging into something followed by some explosions: something hit the metallic floor in and there was clapping.

"Happy clap! Heh, heh, heh!"

08:23 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Dragon Hell… Are you there? Hello?"

"Welcome, Honorable Doctor of Wisdom."

"Oi, oi…"

The "Doc" was speaking with a man wearing a goldenrod tunic and a brownish bamboo hat: given how it was bowing, most of his face was hidden by the hat's shape.

"I would like to recommend to the Honorable Doctor of Wisdom the humble cook's slightly spicy curry rice sauce with some hints of fruit salad juice on it…"

"Grah… I knew it! O. has been giving you ideas!"

"The Honorable Crimson Warrior of Courage has indeed been providing illumination to the Confucius disciple I am."

"Quit that kilometric speech already…" The "Doc" groaned.

"I shall go fetch Master Confucius' lessons in order to find out the answer to such an honorable suggestion…"

"It ain't a "suggestion": it's an order!" The "Doc" cursed.

"Ah. I apologize given the lack of…"

"I know the rest! Please prepare some _normal_ curry and bring me some water: I haven't had breakfast yet!"

"As the Honorable…"

"Just call me "Doc"! Move it!"

"By the will of…"

"Run!"

The man calmly stood up, turned around and headed into two double doors with the banner "KITCHEN" above them: the "Doc" sat down on a bench next to a table while fuming.

"What a ship of fools, really. The cook, the android warrior… Both are weird. Only Boss, I, _aibou_, and the two field agents seem to be the stable guys aboard this ship… But if a third of the crew is already like this, then that doesn't bide well for us." The "Doc" muttered.

The man named "Dragon Hell" calmly brought a dish of curry, a jar of water and a glass before bowing.

"The humble cook wishes…"

"Just say "here you have" and we're at peace!"

"Master Confucius used to…"

"Move out!"

Dragon Hell returned into the kitchen while the "Doc" sighed.

"Well then… There's no other way around and no turning back, either. The "Scheme" has been activated and the gears are already in motion. It's like the final countdown to a rocket's lift-off…" He muttered as he placed his elbows in the table and leant his nose on his joined hands.

He calmly ate the curry and drank some water before standing up and using a handkerchief to cleanse his lips.

"I should get moving: there are some details which needs polishing. Young one… Do not think badly of us. It's all for the sake of those who you believe in… I am not saying you couldn't do it, yet… It's the only way to help protect them and bring down "IQ" once and for all. We can't let such a criminal roam free anymore. It's been too long. And, in the end, you will end up stronger than you currently are…"

He headed out of the room and then stepped into another room having a large observation window which allowed one to view Earth from orbit.

"… For freedom. We shall be free. And so will the world…! The ends justify the means…! Young one… This is just the beginning of a new time in which we shall be… free…" He sighed with a hint of sadness.

The "Doc" fell silent and looked towards the revolving Earth…


	2. Chapter 1: Half Kill

**Chapter 1: Half – Kill**

10:04 AM (Japan Time), Saturday July the 5th…

"… Grah, hah, hah, ha~h! I'm the bust-'em-all! Weaklings! Rubbish! I'm so gonna be the unbeatable champion and tell "have at cha" to that Ox silly grunt!"

"War Rock… Why can't you do anything else but bring up the rivalry with Ox?"

Hoshikawa Subaru, aged 12, sighed and rolled his eyes as he walked down a street followed by his Wizard War-Rock: the later was busy enough slicing the air with his claws and acting like he was busting EM Viruses over and over again.

"'Cause he's ugly!"

"Don't tell me." Subaru muttered while looking skeptical.

"What's with that face? Are ya gonna sneak into Area M?"

"Area M? Where's that?"

"Ya know where."

"I don't, War Rock."

"Then ask Mr. Universe."

"Yeah. And how am I supposed to?"

"Via that cool device of yours, ya see…"

"I can't call anyone if I don't know their Hunter – VG number."

"Call Solo." War Rock challenged with a grin.

"No way… He'd demand a rematch and I'm not in the mood to."

"Heh, heh, heh. If there's one thing I agree with the guy is the thrill which comes with battles."

"That's because both of you are hyperactive…"

"Heh, heh, heh. War Rock – sama tells ya this: escape through the backdoor!"

"Which "backdoor"…? That Area M's backdoor…?"

"Well! More or less… So? Are you gonna sneak there?"

"Why should I? Unless I get told to do that by Akatsuki – san, then I'm not going anywhere which isn't our weekly morning stroll."

"Heh, heh, heh. Then he'll surely give the "A-OK" to sneak into Area M and bring back some "intriguing" photos…"

"I don't like the vibe of it."

"Ya don't like Ox."

"He's a friend, too!"

"Sure, sure! Tell him to burn out his own fake hide."

"Is that a joke you did back when you lived in Planet FM?"

"Sure thing, Meitantei – sama~!"

"You've been seeing too many "mystery" series…"

"Better that than nothing!"

"Yeah. Let's move out: I wanna have a look at the Roppondo Hills' newest films and see if there's one I should go see with the club."

"No need from the club… Bring Area M along."

"How am I supposed to bring a whole area along?"

"'Cause "Area M" is my codename for a provoking individual which shows up from time to time in a sneaky and sinister manner to then suck the blood outta ya…" War Rock tried to sound sinister.

"I'm so scared, really." Subaru drily told him.

"Heh, heh, heh. Was that enough of a hint?"

"Do you mean Jack?"

"No! That'd be "Area J", then!"

"Wait a min… Someone whose name begins with an "M"… It isn't Mom, and I'm sure it ain't "Mars", either… Melody…? Melody… Wait a min, you don't mean…?" Subaru looked suspicious.

"Correct, Holmes Jr.!"

"… Misora – chan… And you wanted to intrude Misora – chan's privacy, then? You're terrible, War Rock! That could be considered a crime of "harassment" and I could get into a legal pinch! The gossip papers would place me at their front pages! It'd be Hell!" Subaru groaned.

"Heh, heh, heh. The ends justify the means!"

"That's been overused."

"Heh, heh! Knowledge – sama strikes back with a hammer!"

"Wrong. With a stone glare."

"Oho. Patent it!"

"I'm sure Ms. Medusa already owns it." Subaru shrugged.

"Che."

"If you're so eager for a battle… Then go ahead and slice some Viruses up while I wait for the bus. You know how to follow it, anyway."

"Sure thing… But, before that…"

"What?"

War Rock suddenly turned around, did something, and turned around again while making a zombie-like face: Subaru actually gasped and stepped back while War Rock laughed: Subaru slapped his face in defeat.

"Take that! War Rock: 10! Subaru: 0! See ya in Area M!"

"Jeez! Meet me at the Roppondo Hills Cinema Hall!"

"Beat 'em all with a hammer! Crush 'em all with a screwdriver! Smash 'em all with a baseball bat!"

Subaru ran across the streets after checking it was empty and waited in front of the bus stand: there was another man waiting there who was seemingly occupied with doing something with the Hunter – VG.

_The bus normally comes after 3 or 4 minutes… Let's wait._

The man wore an open brown coat which reached until the knees: he then wore a brown trench suit with two black adjustable bands colored clear brown: he had a black shirt under it plus a necktie: his pants were clear brown and his shoes were simply brown: he sported smoked sunglasses.

He had a refined-looking moustache his gray hair reached until the base of the neck.

He also sported black fingerless gloves with an open square over the hand.

"… E~h… So! Takeshi is going to organize the summer party this year, then? Let's see how well he fares… I wouldn't be surprised if he forgot the tropical juice, though… He seems to be so absent-minded sometimes…"

A lone navy blue van slowly drove along the lane and stopped a short distance past the bus stand: it then moved slightly out of the way into a patch of bare ground and stopped.

_The bus should be about to arrive… _

Subaru didn't spot how the man speaking to the Hunter – VG discreetly reached for his jacket's left pocket and began to pull out something while still talking to the Hunter – VG.

"… Yeah. I'm about to pick the bus. Well then… Let's meet at 11:00 hours and wrap up the deal with that new company… Understood, my fellow partner… Later."

The man pocketed the Hunter – VG and discreetly pulled out what had the looks of a Beretta M92/F equipped with a silencer: he calmly stepped back into an angle which had the stand half-hide him and aimed for the unsuspecting Subaru's neck.

_Do not think badly of us, young one. This is for "freedom", after all. The ends justify the means. Good sleep._

He began to pull the trigger at a slow rate.

_Jeez! The bus takes forever to come. Maybe I should've gone through the Wave Roads as "Rock Man", then? But War Rock would have me take detours into Virus-infested Noise Waves and we'd take FOREVER to get to Roppondo Hills! Jeez! What a guy! _

He stretched and yawned before rubbing his eyes: he suddenly frowned and seemed to have realized something.

_Dunno why, but just now… I had the feeling that something was gonna happen… My imagination…? Guess so… Meteor G blew up and King is still roaming Noise Waves while trying to hide from everyone. Dealer was annihilated, too. That happened back in April! I'm glad, though, that dad finally returned… He's joined his old job at WAXA again and he now acts like he'd never vanished… They found a way to return his body to normal, so he's now a normal person… Things can only get better!_

The man with the gun was now checking it since the trigger seemed to have gotten stuck half-way.

_Who the hell designs such faulty triggers? This is starting to look like a parody! But I carried a spare just in case…_

He pocketed the faulty gun after placing the safety on and picked a second one.

_I have to cut it NOW! The bus will come anytime now and we have to pull out before it comes!_

He took out the safety of the new gun and aimed for Subaru's neck: he quickly pressed the trigger and the bullet made contact with the neck while getting partly embedded into it: Subaru gasped but immediately collapsed face-down on the ground: the man quickly ran to his side, picked him up, and ran towards the van, the side of door of which unlocked: he jumped inside and quickly sat down on the seat while closing the door.

"Go, On Air! We don't have a single second to waste. Head to the rendezvous point! Or else the whole strategy will be compromised!" He commanded to someone.

10:25 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Here I am. I found some nice Viruses to bust up and made mincemeat of them! Heh, heh… Huh?"

War Rock appeared inside of the bus' rear seats but he was surprised to see Subaru wasn't riding on it: the other four or five passengers didn't notice him.

_Huh? Weird… Wait, wait… Did I pick the wrong bus?_

"… Bus Line 4 to TK City…" A speaker announced.

_No! This is the bus. And none come earlier than this one. Wait… Don't tell me he took my joke seriously and is trying to sneak on "Area M"… No way: he was too serious about that. Hmmm… Maybe that Gonta fatty suddenly called him to solve a hitch?_

He warped out of the bus and into the city: he spotted one house and entered inside to find Ushijima Gonta devouring ginger beef at a mad speed.

"Ginger beef! Mine! Mine! Mine! All mine~!" He laughed.

"Oi! Gonta!"

"Wha! War Rock! Whaddya want?"

"Did ya ask Subaru for a favor?"

"Huh? Subaru? No…"

"Guess it was that Kizamaro dwarf, then… Tell Ox I'm gonna beat that smug-faced smile of his one day!"

"O-oi!"

War Rock laughed and warped out to then appear inside of Saishouin Kizamaro's house.

"… I'm bored! My intelligence should be used on something practical!"

"Calm down…" Pedia sighed.

"Yo! Dwarf Man! Did ya call Subaru?"

"Huh? Oh. War Rock. What? I called Subaru – kun? No. I didn't."

"Fine. Then go and patent Encyclopedia Man!"

War Rock grinned and then warped into Shirogane Luna's apartment flat: only the Wizard Mode was there.

"Yo! Mode!"

"Oh. War Rock."

"Subaru came here?"

"He didn't."

"Ah… I get it… Heh, heh, heh. He did listen to me, then. Heh, heh, heh. This will be intriguing to see… Tell that iinchou woman that that hairstyle is outdated!"

War Rock ran off while Mode protested something he didn't get to hear: he was already running down a Wave Road and soon reached the Okudama Studios area: Hibiki Misora could be seen walking around the tennis court while seemingly doing some gymnastics.

"Yo! Misora."

"Ah! War Rock - kun! Did Subaru - kun come?"

"Guess so…" War Rock glanced around with a grin.

"Huh? Don't you two always come together?"

"I went to bust some Viruses, so… Heh, heh, heh. Say… Do you lock your room when coming out?"

"Of course!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Sorry, sorry."

"Wait, wait… You aren't hinting at…?"

"Who knows?"

Misora suddenly ran towards the building while War Rock grinned and waited there: Misora came back about five minutes later and looked totally worn out from the sprint.

"It was locked! You're horrible, War Rock! Hinting at Subaru – kun stepping into my room… He has way more dignity than ya!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh. But maybe he was aiming for somethin' else, ya never know…" He whistled a tune.

Misora began to rummage inside of the bushes and looked at the dummy car as well as behind fences or inside of trees: she returned to her earlier spot and looked worn out by the effort and the heat.

"He isn't anywhere! I knew it: he didn't come and you wanted to make me sweat! You're horrible! Don't you know you can't do that to a girl? Did you do that to Harp in Planet FM, too?"

"Nah. I was always busy trying to mincemeat the Corvus jerk or that ugly Ox jerk." War Rock laughed.

"Hmpf! Men will be men, then." She folded her arms.

"Oho. Then Claw Man and Akatsuki called him over to WAXA HQ… See ya and don't forget to lock the magical door by yelling "Close, Sesame" on it, Misora! Nyah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

War Rock flew out and Misora fumed.

"That guy…! Subaru – kun is too shy and humble to do such a thing. He just wanted to make me sweat and now I feel dizzy. This heat is killing me and running in and out of an AC building is no good! Let's go back inside and work on my new song's lyrics…" She fumed.

She headed back towards the building and didn't pay attention to a lone navy blue van driving down the lane which soon became out of sight: she stepped into the building and headed for her room which she unlocked.

"O. K. Let's continue!"

She sat down in front of her desk and began to write into a paper…

10:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Man. There's nothing but small stuff."

"What were you expecting, Shidou?"

"I come back into action after barely making it back alive from Joker's self-destruction and I find that the big bad baddies are gone: Meteor G, King, that Sirius freak… Why can't I get some of the cake, too?"

Akatsuki Shidou looked totally bored as he lazily leant his feet on top of a desk and inclined his chair backwards: Acid was floating close by and didn't seem impressed (not like he could display much with his face, anyway) at all.

"You're too hyperactive."

"Tell that to War Rock."

"Yo! Ya called for me?" War Rock asked with a grin as he showed up in front of Shidou.

"War Rock… So? Is there anything worth it out there or have our days of "thrill" come to an end?" Shidou lazily asked.

"Ah… Good question, dude! Well! Maybe if you had the guts to venture into the Black Hole Server…"

"What? Didn't it get destroyed after Subaru beat that Sirius freakish guy who controlled it?"

"No… It stopped spinning! It's drifting away from Planet FM due to the gravitational forces, though… But the inside has residual data from ya, that Grave Joker beast and the Sirius freak guy! If ya wanna have a thrill, then try facing your own hide!" War Rock challenged.

"Yeah! That's what I need! Good finding!" Shidou looked excited and eager by now.

"No good…" Acid grimly muttered.

"Heh, heh. So?"

"So… What?"

"Subaru!"

"Yeah? Is he alright?"

"Of course! Ya called him, right? Ya want him to interrogate Jack and find out what Queen Tia likes!" War Rock whispered to him in a conspiracy – like tone.

"No~…" Shidou grumbled.

"Did ya charge him with a mission?"

"No. There's nothing worth bothering him."

"Hmmm… Weird."

"What's weird?"

"He wasn't in the bus to Roppondo Hills…"

"No?"

"But maybe he's trolling me and waiting for me hidden near the bus stand, too… Heh, heh, heh."

"Sure thing… He must wanna pull your ears since you got him into more than one pinch in the past." Shidou shrugged.

"Heh, heh, heh. Good, good! Then I'm off to Kodama Town… Beware of man-eating chairs!"

Laughing at his own joke, War Rock vanished while Shidou grinned: Acid grumbled.

"Acid…"

"Can't be helped, right…?" He foresaw.

"Yeah! We're gonna go to the Black Hole Server!"

"We'll be lucky to not get ourselves killed there."

"Don't be so grim!"

10:43 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Jack!"

"Hmpf… War –Rock."

War Rock found Jack at the bus stand and he didn't seem surprised in the very least.

"Ya still have that rotten tomato face?"

"Very funny."

"Did ya see Subaru?"

"No."

"Heh, heh. He's waitin' for me, then… Oi! Subaru! Come out and pull this guy's elf ears!"

"What "elf ears"…?" Jack grumbled.

"Huh? Is that…?"

War Rock suddenly spotted something dropped behind the bus stand: a Hunter – VG the power of which was off: he picked it up and turned it on to check it out.

"What the… Subaru's Hunter – VG? What does this mean?"

"Huh? Is this…? Bullet cartridge…?" Jack gasped as he picked one from the ground and looked at it.

"Bullet what?"

"A weapon… Someone has captured Hoshikawa, then…"

"What? King?" War Rock grumbled.

"Dunno. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was him out of revenge for what happened 2 months ago." Jack calmly shrugged.

"Crap…! I gotta warn the Satella Police…!" War Rock gasped.

He made a grimace and cursed under his breath…

10:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… We somehow made it on time… We could've come earlier were it not for that defective gun… Who was the storehouse agent in charge of it this week?"

"I believe it was Agent Umi…"

"Fine. Speak with him and tell him to get ready for my scolding. I gotta take care of something. Remember: this is not an official operation. There wasn't such an operation. No record will be kept. You were working on the archive. Do you get me, On Air?"

"Yes, sir. Roger, sir."

"Good. Go."

"Roger, sir."

Subaru slowly regained consciousness and heard voices: he then tried to interact with the environment.

_What the… happened…? I can't see or yell… My body feels limp… I'm sitting on a chair, but… I'm immobilized… And my body's reaction feels slower than usual… A drug…? I'm missing my shirt, too… Did King set this up…? The guy… Of course: the money from the King Foundation… He's used it… He surely hired a mercenary group or something like that… Crap. Now I wish War Rock was here to help me… _

"… So! Awake?" A man asked.

_That voice…? The man who was at the bus stand…?_

"If you believe King to be behind this, then… Wrong. And we're not mercenaries, either. No. I'm not reading your consciousness. I'm deducing given your position and what's happened." The man announced.

_Then who are you guys…?_

"Look: it's not like I enjoy doing this, but… You will be part of a "scheme" the details of which I won't go into… Just know that I'm doing this to complete the "scheme"… No hard feelings."

_No hard feelings…? What "scheme"…?_

A door was closed and Subaru heard some noises followed by mumbling in a low tone of voice.

"Huff. Well then… No other way around… This won't be long. Yet… It will not be nice. And then… Everything will begin." The man sighed.

_That's too vague…!_

Subaru suddenly felt a sharp cut on his right shoulder but he didn't have time to react as some other cuts which varied in length, depth and orientation began to form on his body.

_T-they're attacking me with a knife…! I can't fight back…! Stop it…! I'll tell you anything! I'll do anything! Anything to this pain…!_

The man stopped and Subaru panted as he tried to recover his breath: there was a noise close by and some footsteps coming closer.

"Hoshikawa Subaru, Shooting Star Rock Man… This is the beginning of everything. It's too early to say whether we shall succeed or not, but… If we do, then everything will be answered and the terrible menace orbiting around you will vanish." The man drily announced.

_W-what are you talking about, mister…? What "terrible menace" do you mean…? How do you justify this…? _

"Do not have fear. Everything will end up well for you and those whom you care about… There may be sadness or grief, yet… They are necessary to deter that terrible menace from closing in… Ready or not… We are going to begin…" The man told him next.

_More details…! I need more details…! That's too vague! I can't work with that: I need to know what my opponent is!_

"Say good night, young one."

_What…? No…! What are you going to do…? Stop…!_

Something suddenly hit his left shoulder and blackness quickly claimed all of his persona…


	3. Chapter 2: Lartes

**Chapter 2: Lartes**

12:05 PM (Japan Time), Sunday July the 6th…

"… Still nothing… This is getting worrisome."

A medic on his twenties was sitting on a chair next to a hospital room's bed.

He had black messy hair and brown eye irises.

He was clean shaven and sported reading glasses.

He had a white medic's coat on plus brownish pants and shoes.

The medic was currently glancing at a clipboard he carried and reading some annotations.

"… I hope he awakens soon, or else…" He muttered.

He glanced at the bed: the occupant of it was a young boy around a meter and fifty tall whose hair was colored silver and was neatly combed.

He was clad in a hospital pajama and had an oxygen mask on plus an IV attached to his right forearm: a bandage around the forehead contained some EEG sensors which claimed that the boy was unconscious.

"Really… What a terrible accident he had! I'm surprised no – one has contacted the hospital about him… He had no ID on him, either, which makes it weirder. Maybe it wasn't so much of an "accident" but a deliberate act…? Who could do such a thing to a child like him?"

The EEG display monitor suddenly beeped and some spikes of brain activity showed up there: the doctor gasped and quickly lowered all blinders to dim the illumination: the boy mumbled and began to quickly blink until he adjusted to the dim lighting: he looked confused.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" The medic asked.

The boy slowly nodded in affirmation: the medic removed the oxygen mask and the boy inhaled and exhaled two or three times before trying to articulate a word and failing.

"Your throat must be dry… Have some water: it'll help you speak and will soothe you."

The doctor handed him a glass of water with a straw and helped the boy use his left hand to drink it: he kept each sip one or two seconds inside of his mouth before swallowing it: he eventually drank the whole glass and sounded refreshed.

"Can you understand me? Are you Japanese?" The doctor slowly asked him.

"I understand… I am Japanese…" The boy replied.

"What's your name?"

"Name… Name…? My name…? Weird… I… My mind feels blank… I don't remember anything… but something on me feels weird…"

"No wonder… Have a look."

The doctor opened the upper part of the hospital cloth and the boy gasped upon seeing the cicatrized wounds on his upper body.

"W-what…? How did these…?"

"I do not know."

"… I feel some slight pain in the back of my head."

"A shrapnel impact… It even hit the brain! We were really worried if you'd make it… Maybe… Maybe this impact did more damage than we thought and caused you… _amnesia_…?" The doctor suddenly wondered.

_What…! Amnesia… I can't even remember who I was or who am I supposed to be…! I hope it can get healed…! _

"Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Well! I'm Doctor Kazimura Lartes and I will take care of you... You can plainly call me "Dr. Lartes" since my family name doesn't really ring so much. But, for the moment… You need a name… Hmmm… How does "Albert" sound like?"

"A-l-be-r-t… Five syllables… Uh-unh… I like it, Dr. Lartes."

"But take into mind that it's temporary… Until you remember your original name…"

"But how could I get so many wounds?"

"The man who brought you here and who didn't ID himself claimed that there'd been a "car accident" somewhere but didn't give details. And any car accidents figure in the news, yet… Maybe it was far from here."

"Where is "here" at?"

"TK City… TK Central Hospital…"

"TK City…? I can't seem to remember places' names…"

"Hmmm… But you can remember how to eat and things like that, right? I mean…"

"Of course…"

"I guessed as much: motor and language skills are intact… This will be a bit hard to solve, but… It's not impossible. Say… You don't remember how old are you, either?"

"I don't think so, Dr. Lartes…"

"Hmmm… I wouldn't place you lower than 11 but no older than 13 given your height… Maybe you're 12 years old…"

"It may be, sir…"

"Anyway… Don't worry. I'll make sure to take care of you. Truth is… This is one of my very first cases since I've recently gotten my diploma and medical license… So please try to give me some positive feedback, will you please?" Dr. Lartes grinned and whispered to him.

"I understand, sir…"

"Sorry. I spoke too much… Anyway… The IV is no longer needed now that you're awake, so… Maybe you'll need some walking rehab just in case but the brain wound was already stitched up, so… It wouldn't take long to give you the "A-OK" status… Yet… Well. Let's see how you progress."

"Is there something worrying you, sir…? Do you think I could be in trouble if I were to leave the hospital, sir…?"

"True… Because… You didn't carry any ID. And that man's story somewhat looked rushed… Something tells me you were involved into something and tried to quit, but they then went overboard while trying to scare you from ditching them and hence why they brought you in a rush to the hospital… They could be hoping that we'll do the healing for them to then do bad things to you again…" Dr. Lartes sighed.

"… Oh. I see."

"Hmmm… Well. But I could be wrong, mind you. It's just a hypothesis. Maybe someone will ID you sooner or later… If you were wondering which time it is, then… 12:11 PM, Sunday July the 6th, 2204…"

"July… Summer…" Albert frowned.

"Does that ring a bell?" Dr. Lartes asked.

"… I'm afraid not, sir."

"Oh. Don't worry. Look: anything, even if it's a small thing, could be a clue to your memories, so… Be patient. One must be patient in life or else they will get into trouble." Dr. Lartes told him.

"I understand, sir."

"Good. I must go out and notify my _senpai_ about this, so… Wait here: I'll be right back. I'll ask for some lunch, too. And then we'll try to think of a "B Plan" just in case…"

"Wow. B Plan… It sounds cool, sir."

"Really? Well then. Wait for me and please don't move from there. Try to think of something… Here: have some paper and a pencil… Try to use the left hand because I don't want to remove the IV on the right forearm yet."

"Thank you very much, Dr. Lartes, sir." Albert looked in high spirits.

Albert clumsily wrote his name in _katakana_ in the paper and sighed…

13:53 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Really! What a narrow escape we had yesterday! It was a good idea to come up with the decoy vans, sir! Those Satella Police officers somehow had gotten a hold of the situation faster than expected and we barely made it out intact from the building… We had to "sterilize" it, but given how it was accumulating rusty and defective stuff, then… It was no big deal, really…"

"I see. It'd seem I committed a serious miscalculation… But things are stable on my front. I sent O. ahead to the mansion and Boss is there, so he'll be making sure he behaves in a "civilized" manner…"

The man who'd abducted Subaru the previous day was speaking with his unidentified conspirer through the Hunter – VG while standing in the rooftop of a building somewhere inside of a large metropolis: the wind made his coat agitate but he didn't seem to care about it.

"It didn't feel good, but… I'm afraid it'll haunt me for the months to come, sir…"

"I can understand it. But, as we said… It was necessary. It helps make the "cover" more believable in case "IQ" bothers to show up and demand information… But it's not like it'll care for what goes on in a random hospital somewhere… And since it always depends on your organization for the reports, then… It shouldn't be a problem. Yet, Boss knows that "IQ" mistrusts everything and everyone, so… We had to come up with this or else the "Scheme" couldn't be pulled off." The conspirer calmly replied.

"True, Dr. L, true… Should we begin patrols to check if any people employed directly or indirectly by "IQ" try to gather information so that we can quickly predict its behavior and come up with a counter-story?"

"Of course. That's another keystone of the "Scheme", Mr. D."

"Very well, sir… Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Mr. D. sighed and then looked out towards the sunny skies…

14:05 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well?"

"Nothing… Totally burnt. Impossible to retrieve anything…"

"Crap."

"What do we do, Shidou?"

"Tell me, Mr. Intelligence!"

"I don't know."

"Fan-tas-tic!"

Shidou was speaking with a firefighter officer next to a largely burnt concrete building: several firefighters could be seen checking the rooms through the destroyed 1st floor windows: Shidou looked angered while Acid kept his calm manner.

"Was there a basement?" He asked the officer.

"True. It was the origin of the fire." The office replied.

"Could you spot any tire marks on the surroundings of the building?"

"There were about five pairs…"

"And we chased four vans which were empty yesterday when Misora provided us with the registration plate of a suspicious-looking van she saw around that time yesterday… Well. I say empty but they all had a map pointing towards this place. Yet… When we got here, it was already burning and the fire took all the way until late night to put off…" Shidou muttered as if recapitulating the status of the investigation.

"Gasoline… They'd spread it across all the rooms and then set fire at it with a remotely-detonated bomb: several others also went off thus helping for several sources to start the fire and help it spread at a mad speed… This looks like a deliberate erasing of trails and done in a rush to escape the place."

"Obviously!" Shidou fumed.

"Cool it down, Shidou." Acid insisted.

"O. K. Guess we'll try bringing EM scanners to see if any data was left floating around but I doubt it very much… You can't pick any signals, can you, Acid?"

"No. Zero."

"Grah! Bothersome King! Once I find out where you are, then I'm gonna paint your face _pink_!" Shidou grumbled.

"There are other possible culprits." Acid reminded him.

"I knew that!"

"You aren't proving it."

"Don't begin to speak like a prosecutor!"

"Hyde, Gori Monjirou and Kyuu Demazama are the other possibilities given how the FM King surrendered and most of his soldiers were deleted by Rock Man in January. The Nanska Village Chieftain doesn't hold any grudges, either. Solo acts of his own account and he is only interested in battling Rock Man for the "thrill" of it. Dr. Orihime surrendered as well, so…" Acid listed.

"I knew that, Wisdom – sama! Let's go back to the HQ and try to put some order to this! I won't let those who hurt a companion get away with it so easily! I, Akatsuki Shidou, swear to it!" He growled.

"Fine. But don't be surprised if King wasn't."

"I know!"

"You don't prove it."

"Shaddup already…! You're worse than Queen Tia, even!"

Shidou fumed and headed away from the wreck of the building while closing his eyes and looking totally enraged: Acid calmly followed him without adding anything else.

"I'll find you guys!" He proclaimed.

22:21 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmmm… Quite a storm! I hadn't seen one in some months… Glad we have the security walls to keep those waves at bay… This mansion has taken time to build but it was worth it…"

"Boss? Can I come in?"

"Oh. You came… Come in."

A man wearing a kind of body armor made of an unknown material which was painted grey with purple patterns on it was standing in front of a large window and looking out at a storm.

A ragged, stained and torn purple cape hung from the back his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor: he had two swords sheaths attached to his belt.

A round crest with a purple 'V' drawn on it could be seen set on his chest.

The armor included a helmet: the front part of it was covered by a terrific-looking faceplate: two crimson-colored hexagons were set over the eyes while the nose and the mouth were covered by a triangular piece which had a matrix of vertical and horizontal straight lines on it: the design looked reminiscent of a gas mask's filter.

The rest of the faceplate was uncolored and retained the material's metallic color.

Overall, his height seemed to close to a meter and eighty and his figure was imposing in the middle of the unlit room with the nocturnal glow entering through the windows.

"Sorry for the delay…"

A second man stepped inside: he seemed to be slightly shorter in height than the first one and wore a similar armor: it had some navy blue patterns drawn into it and the symbol on his chest emblem was the Alphabet letter "L" colored in a purple color.

"Don't worry about it, my apprentice. I know you've been busy enough."

"Yeah. So?"

"Good news. "IQ" plans on doing the expedition and will pull off any of its plans regarding Japan for about half a year… Yet… They will call me to bring it reports from time to time. I've decided to leave the "A Part" of the "Scheme" up to you. I'll take care of the "B Part" and Mr. D will handle the "C Part"…" The lead man told him.

"Perfect, Boss. This way we'll be able to concentrate efforts in one small front and not having to worry about the whole picture. Our "gizmo" is working fine, too. I believe I can come here in a week's time. O. will be setting everything up… Has he stopped fooling around at the very least, then?"

"Yeah. One of my bad moods displays was enough. He knows it's a bad idea to provoke me. It's not like he's not mature, I mean… I _did_ program him to have an approximate mental age of 16~18 years old, but like any teen, seeks to be somewhat rebellious… I'm afraid he's behaving like an occidental, even." "Boss" sighed.

"As long as he can do what he's supposed to do… I wouldn't care much about it. The VR helps keep him controlled, yet… He could very well exhaust all possibilities and grow bored."

"Don't worry! I added a customizer system so that he can shape a battle or mission just like he'd like it to. That will surely keep him thrilled and content enough, L."

"Good… Where will you be staying at, though?"

"_Kir Osh_ is in charge of the HQ: I'll be using the basement. I set up an electronics lab down there… O. already knows how to come in and out of it and he should tell you before you head back to the mainland using our "machine"… Speaking of it, we'll move it to the basement, too, for added safety." "Boss" detailed.

"Excellent… I'll speak with O. regarding the basement and then head back to the mainland… There's a lot of job to do and I don't want to raise suspicions at this stage."

"Yeah. And don't worry. I'll make sure to keep the Satella Police busy enough making them think King or someone else is behind this…"

"Good evening."

"Good evening, L… Don't try to overwork, though."

"That should be _my_ motto, Boss."

"True…" The man sighed.

A door opened and then closed while "Boss" looked on towards the storm: a thunderbolt fell down and the flash made his shadow appear: a figure with a slight crimson glow and an intermittent cross-shape sapphire light forming from the forehead was standing right behind the man.

"O… So you were here and now L. will be looking for you all around the mansion in vain." "Boss" grumbled.

"Sorry. I wanted to be dramatic."

"Dramatic or not… Go tell him how to enter and exit the basement before I change moods."

"Eh… Y-yeah. Later, Boss."

The mysterious android headed over to the door, opened it, and closed it while "Boss" shrugged.

"Yo! Doc! Wanna visit Dante's Inferno?" O. called out.

"O. Stop kidding around and show me the basement." L. ordered.

"Sure. Let's go say hi to Achilles' wandering soul."

"Be serious or Boss will get angry." L. grumbled.

"I know… Why can't ya be less stiff?"

"I don't need to! This is tuning crazy!" L. groaned.

"As crazy as Crazy Bert!"

"Boss" chuckled under his breath and sounded amused…


	4. Chapter 3: Training

**Chapter 3: Training**

10:10 AM (Japan Time), Sunday July the 11th…

"… Dr. Lartes, sir… I really… don't know how to thank you, sir…"

"Don't mind, Albert. It's me who should be thanking you."

"Really, sir…?"

"Really."

Albert and Dr. Lartes were sitting on seats inside of what seemed to be a private jet's passenger area.

Albert was sporting a white sleeveless shirt, camouflage patched shorts and sandals.

He'd left his hair loose and untouched as well.

Dr. Lartes had a white buttoned shirt, brown pants and his brown shoes on plus his reading glasses.

"Eh… When Dr. Lartes was taking care of me in the hospital, I heard to your family stories, sir, and I somehow got hooked… Given how no – one did ask about me or ID me, then you were able to claim my custody given how I had amnesia and it wasn't totally proven if I was an orphan or not… And that's because since Dr. Lartes had been looking for a disciple to train into martial arts given his family's background, I requested of you to take me in as a disciple, sir… And you've done it, sir… I'm the one who should be grateful, sir!" Albert argued.

"I won't deny it, yet… You fueled me. This was worrying me because I thought I was not doing the right thing being a medic instead of a lawyer like my deceased father…"

"So, sir, an ancestor of your family was a _samurai_ who founded the family back when the _Sengoku_ era?"

"Correct! And this is why we always train in martial arts. In fact… I'm not living alone in my family mansion… There's another person: a fighter model android."

"A-android, you say, sir…?" Albert looked awed.

"Correct! You'll soon be able to meet him. Be careful, though… He has some weird humor and will likely seek to make you more 'bland' given how I tend to be 'stiff' with him… Don't play along and always try to look like you don't catch the point."

"I understand… _Master_." Albert suddenly came up with the English word and sounded amused.

"Well… If you want to name like that, go ahead.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"This small island is located 50 kilometers NNW of Shiisaa Island… It's always been named 'Kazimura Island' given our ownership of it… We always stock in advance but this plane service makes sure to keep us supplied… Given its isolated environment, then it's easy to focus and relax… And I can do my job from here because there aren't that many cases of psychological disorders, stress or nerves in summer… My experienced colleagues can handle that better than me."

"I understand, sir… So, are we going to get there soon?"

"Yeah! In about 50 minutes… Oh! Look. Shiisaa Castle. Have a good look at it: it's a very impressive building!"

Albert looked out through the window as the plane flew over Shiisaa Island and he glanced at the people gathered there: he suddenly gasped and jumped back into the seat.

"What happened? The reflection…?" Dr. Lartes asked.

"I'm… not sure, sir… I suddenly felt like someone was glaring at me with a hostile intention, sir… But… I mean, sir… It's impossible to see who is aboard a plane flying 5 kilometers over the surface, right?"

"Of course it is. Maybe it was the reflection of the sun…"

"It must've been that, then, sir…"

Dr. Lartes frowned and seemed to be thinking.

_Don't tell me _that guy_ was there and something was triggered… Maybe he was busting Viruses on the Wave Road and glanced inside of the plane thus why Albert had this reaction… Bah. He won't think much about it since he will be busy protecting his precious boulders…_

"Eh… Master. I've thought of keeping a journal of what goes on each day so maybe by writing down what I experience I will be able to piece something together…" Albert admitted.

"Good idea, really. Has anything come to mind?"

"Well… Now that you mention it, sir… A voice…"

"A man's? A woman's?"

"More like a man… "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Truly painful, wouldn't you say, gnat!" … It gives off a bad vibe for some reason or another, though, and it sounds like an adult addressing me in a rude manner…"

"Hum. Write it down and then we'll think deeply about it."

"R-roger."

Albert rummaged into a black backpack and took out a notebook: he opened a page and wrote something on it before closing it and looking thoughtful.

"Most of the voices I've heard seem to be men's voices but there were some hostile women's voices, too… This doesn't fare well, sir, because they seem to give more weight to your theory, sir."

"Yeah… We'll have a look at it later once we've settled into the mansion and had a small snack."

"Roger, sir."

_As always, Boss is good at "censoring" stuff… But this not a "dogmatic" censure… It's for safety… Need Not To Know principle… Anyway… I hope O. behaves or else…_

Dr. Lartes made a welcoming smile while Albert looked out at the vast ocean they were flying over…

11:03 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Prepare for touchdown. Please fasten your seatbelts."

The plane began to descend and an island came into view: it had some large submerged metallic walls surrounding its area and a two-floor-tall Japanese-style villa built on the center of it surrounded by tall palm trees: a concrete runway was built on the north side of the island and ran parallel to it until it ended inside of a hanger building.

"Wow… Red masonry and wood… It looks genuine!" Albert let out a whistle of surprise.

"Heh, heh. It looks like the best place to stay at?"

"I think so, sir…"

The plane touched down and quickly slowed down to minimal speed to then enter the hanger: it slowly turned around and the pilot then switched it off.

"Welcome to Kazimura Island."

"We're here…! What nerves…!" Albert muttered.

"Heh, heh. Let's check it out."

They both climbed out of the plane and stepped into the hanger: the pilot opened the door and they exited into a small concrete ramp connecting into the island's sandy ground: Albert ran ahead and began to examine everything.

"… Sea smell… Seagulls… Waves… Breeze… Palm trees… Sun… No clouds in sight… Sand… Incredible~!" Albert exclaimed.

"Calling on Mr. Incredible." A voice rang out with a hint of amusement close by.

"W-who… is it…?" Albert timidly asked.

"Come on… Stop joking around." Dr. Lartes called out to someone.

"Heh, heh. Yo! Welcome back, Doc."

A figure suddenly jumped down from atop a palm tree and calmly landed in front of Albert: he recoiled from the surprise.

"Welcome to Fool Island! Hilarity ensued!"

The newcomer was about a meter and eighty tall.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet: his forehead's jewel glowed and emitted a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and amused.

Long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots.

"I'm _Omega_: the Joke Club's President!" He announced.

"Omega…" Dr. Lartes slapped his forehead.

"Heh, heh. Our good ol' Doc came back with a good recently recruited cadet, didn't he?" Omega asked with a grin.

"Y-you're Omega – san, then…?" Albert timidly asked.

"Yeah. I slice and dice. Watch me at work. _Check it out_!"

Omega suddenly picked what seemed to be a pyramid-shaped object with a rectangular grip from a built-in holster set on his right hip: he pressed a button and a green blade of energy shaped like a pyramid formed before he suddenly snapped his left hand's fingers to make some small metallic spheroids show up in the air: he jumped into the air with a spring and hit the trunk of the palm tree to bounce off and cut across five of them in arch that had him land atop the mansion: he bounced off the roof and sliced another five as he formed a 90º attack while aiming south: he landed on the sea and spun around his axis in a blur to slice the last group of five: he jumped back across the air and landed in front of Albert while having already holstered the saber-like weapon and having his arms folded: a broad grin filled his face and Albert's jaw had hit the floor.

"W-what was that? It can't have been even two minutes' time…! It looked like you were going at light-speed…!"

"Oho. Light-speed, huh? Not bad." Omega grinned.

"That's why he's an android… His processing time, strength, speed and reflexes are way above a human's… And he could easily counter any Wizard, too." Dr. Lartes told Albert.

"W-whoa."

"O. K. I prepared a snack, so if you gentlemen shall follow the honorable humble desirable Crimson Warrior of Kick-'Em-All into the cool Japanese _Sengoku_ era mansion…" Omega suddenly announced in a rush while having a broad grin on his face.

"Omega… That kilometric speech is unnecessary."

"Lemme be the star of the show, Doc."

"Fine. But I hope you didn't make a mess of the kitchen."

"Of course not…"

They didn't spot what seemed to be a CCTV camera built atop a palm tree which was seemingly recording the group.

"Let's go through the main luxurious and pompous entrance to the mansion of the Takeda Shingen wannabes."

"OMEGA!" Dr. Lartes roared.

"Sorry, sorry. Ya see… I don't really catch the reason for…"

"That's because you're an android. And you don't carry the burden of generations of men on your shoulders. Now stop acting like a bankrupted circus clown and let's head inside already. " Lartes grumbled.

"Sure, Admiral."

"I'm not in the Navy!"

"Sure, Sigmund Freud Disciple."

11:07 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Let's check on the surface…"

The mysterious man wearing the armor with the purple "V" letter on its chest was sitting on a revolving black leather armchair placed in front of a console displaying several Real Wave screens: one of them was feed from a camera set up in what the looks of the hall: Dr. Lartes, the pilot, Albert and Omega were standing there.

"You came… Albert. Do not worry… You will be safe here. "IQ" will be fooling around, trapped inside of its own arrogant "world" and it'll keep on thinking it's in control of everything… How mistaken it is… We _have_ morale. "IQ" doesn't. Thus, we can see through that veil of lies and horror which is wrapped around its existence…" "Boss" muttered.

"… Watch my super cool floor climbing trick and try to follow me!"

"Omega! Don't say nonsense."

"Heh, heh. Let's go~! Super Omega Jump!"

Omega suddenly crouched and jumped into the air while turning around and landed atop the 1st floor's handrail with the right foot which he used to spin around before he set his left foot on it and made a parody of a reverence.

"Then?" He challenged.

"W-whoa~!" Albert uttered.

"Heh, heh. Omega will make sure to impress our audience…" "Boss" muttered with a hint of amusement.

"Albert, Mr. Pilot… Please head on ahead to the dining hall. I need to check the status of the kitchen and if I see the slightest scratch, then I'm gonna call your programmer and turn you into a carpenter model android 'till all the scratches are gone." Lartes grumbled.

"Oho. Good try, Lartes…" "Boss" muttered.

"Jeez! _Danna_ doesn't have any sense of thrill!"

13:34 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And this is the training room. We'll start with some boxing. The equipment is in the adjacent changing room."

"Roger, Master."

"Show some body off, Albert, like a man."

"Go to Alaska."

"Oho. _Danna_ got one of his skeptical moods…"

"Just get changed without rushing it, Albert. I've gotta settle the score with this guy over here."

"R-roger, sir…"

"Beware of NTV's hidden cameras!"

"NTV's hidden cameras…?"

"Don't take him seriously."

"R-roger, sir…"

Albert slipped out of a wide gym-like room which had a boxing sack set on the middle of it and into an adjacent room while Lartes glared at Omega with an angry look.

"Boss is looking." He warned in a hushed tone.

"And he's gonna come out?"

"No. He's gonna call you."

"Via Telnet?"

"Telnet wasn't used for calls."

"Via AT&T?"

"That was a company which existed long ago. Get serious."

"Serious as in seriousness?"

"Stop trolling Albert: you're overwhelming him and that's no good for his mindset 'cause you stress him out."

"Ops. Then I'll treat him to a cold shower."

"You're not gonna get involved in Albert's health or psychology. Your role is to provide security and to act as distraction for the Satella Police: maybe you'll get to tell Acid Ace to go play Super Hero in Hollywood."

"Oho. I like that better. Fine. I'll wait for my chance to say hi and bye, run off while stealing his helmet, and leave him perplexed regarding if he was dreaming or not."

"You can't take his helmet off…"

"Who says I can't?"

"Mr. Universe."

"Oho. So ya found him?"

"Yeah. Roaming in the VR Room."

"Oho. Then I'll go say hi and bye and steal his golden fountain pen to sign the Guinness Book of World Records 2204… Bye, _Danna_!"

Omega laughed and headed out of the room while Lartes got a twitch over his right eye.

"That guy… Boss! If you're listening… Set him straight already." He muttered in a whisper.

Albert came out at that moment after having changed into navy blue boxer pants, the sneakers and the gloves: he didn't seem concerned over his twelve scars on his upper body.

"Huh? Omega – san left?"

"He had to give a hand to the pilot because we forgot to close the window of the hanger and now several seagulls got set atop the plane. He's scaring them off." Lartes replied.

Shrieks of seagulls rang out along with the flapping of wings.

"Start."

"Roger, sir."

Albert began to jump around the sack and delivered some punches from different angles and varying in power: Lartes stood there and looked satisfied.

_Quick progress already…! Of course… The motor skills… His instincts are coming out… He will quickly get used to the physical fighting, I'd rather say, and it'll help him out a lot... Boss is a genius._

Albert kept at it for a few more minutes before he sat down on a bench and took the gloves off: he picked a towel and dried some of the heat which had built up on his face.

"Good work, Albert. We'll leave it at this for today. Go have a relaxing shower and then we'll go over your journal."

"Roger, Master…"

"Buro~!" A heavy voice roared.

_Crap!_ Lartes gasped.

"What was that?" Albert gasped.

"… Omega's trolling…" Lartes grumbled.

"Ah… He scared me!"

"That was his aim. Go shower and I'll scold him."

"R-roger, sir."

Albert headed out while Lartes slapped his face in defeat.

"He almost blew it up…! That guy…! Boss! Yell at him already or else this won't last even 24 hours…!" Lartes grumbled.

He fumed and punched his right palm with his left fist as if to discharge his bad mood.

_Fine. Let's keep on like this… For freedom!_


	5. Chapter 4: Suspicion

**Chapter 4: Suspicion**

08:44 AM (Japan Time), Monday August the 9th…

"… Time for a new journal entry…"

Albert, clad in a navy blue _kimono_ robe with red dragons drawn on it, was sitting on a chair behind a desk set on his bedroom: the desk was set under a window which allowed one a broad sight of the front side of the island: Omega could be seen practicing his wild moves on Battle Wizard simulations and VR EM Viruses: Albert was focused on writing something down on his journal.

_It's been over a month. I have no complains. Master is kind to me and he always knows that I'm committed to excelling in boxing, _kendo_ and target practice… Omega – san trolls us a lot and I only mutter half-hearted responses while Master tends to lose his patience: he has me exit the room while he begins an argument with Omega – san. _

_Regarding his theory of my wounds' origin… The voices I hear while spacing out from time to time carry that vibe… I dreamt of a white world with echoing voices inside of it this night and I heard a lady's voice saying the following:_

"_Traitor to… The organization! A traitor is a traitor… That one died, you say… Well then, why don't I make this one die, too? There's no difference… Nothing has changed…"_

_But given my largely isolated position and the very low number of persons who know I live here, then there's nothing to be worried about. I'm sure Omega – san is also here to provide first-line security, too!_

_Master does give me a lot of free time to look up things on my own and I'm starting to research into gravity and how it interacts with all bodies: the subject fascinates me and I don't think I'll exhaust it anytime soon at this rate. _

_In short: I'm in high spirits and each day is perfect for me. I don't feel any real sense of urgency to remember my past given how I enjoy the present as it is… I'll write down the rest after a few hours. _

09:09 AM (Japan Time)…

"… This world is so boring, really! I can easily stir up a conflict somewhere or make a good business by toying with the stock market, yet… It feels so dull and boring!"

"Blame us, King."

Mr. King, formed head of "Dealer" and the "King Foundation", turned around and made a grimace upon recognizing Acid Ace.

"Akatsuki Shidou!" He hissed.

"Yeah. That's me. Now, confess."

"Confess what?"

"Do you think we're idiots?"

"Hmpf."

"So! You did hire a bunch of thugs to abduct Subaru last month and now you're keeping him hostage. We know that."

"Who told you that?"

"We deduced from the happenings: even though those guys are nowhere to be found, we know you're one of three candidates which possess the wits and motives to do that." Acid Ace countered.

"Hmpf! I have no use for such antiques!"

"Yeah? Then why have you moved the money of your blatantly false "King Foundation" to accounts scattered around the world?"

"WHAT? WHO DARES TO TOUCH MY FORTUNE?" King suddenly roared and lifted his arms,

"I wouldn't be surprised if they could hear that in the North Pole." Acid Ace muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"Akatsuki! You idiot! Someone's blaming me!"

"Yeah? How do I believe that?"

"Che."

"You're not believable. At all."

"Why, you…!"

"You were talking about using the money to stir things, anyway."

"Che. I'll admit I was but I insist: I have no need for such antiques! Tell that to your other two "candidates" already!"

"We will once we find one of them and expose some skeletons in the closet of the other… But you're very suspicious."

"Grah! Get out of here!"

"I won't."

"I'll destroy you!"

"If Joker couldn't, do you think you could?"

"Che!"

"Confess."

"I know nothing!"

"The owner of most of those accounts is a certain Zataki Tosho from Gunma Prefecture… A friend of yours?"

"I know no Zataki Tosho!"

"Well. I admit that most of his personal details are sketchy, but he's supposed to be on his 20s and travel a lot. Even though he looks clean at a first glance, owning so many accounts reeks. So? A fan of yours, then? Don't play dumb."

"I have no "fans" at all!"

"Ah, no? I thought you purposely paid the expenses of Kodama Elementary School's trip to Shiisaa Island so that Queen Tia and Jack could mess around with Strong? And didn't you finance the construction of Spica Mall, too?" Acid Ace listed.

"Crap."

"Gotcha. So he's a fan of yours who wants to recycle your money for his own antiques. And he tried to blame ya. But he could be cooperating with Gori and Hyde, too…"

"Then what are you idiots waiting for? Go after that man!"

"But he could be trying to draw attention from you to him and end up knowing nothing, too."

"Che!"

"We've gone over several _scenarios_, mind ya."

"Why, you…!"

"Yeah. That's outdated."

"Get out!"

"Not yet."

As a response, King discharged his fists on the control panel of his hovering chair: a new Noise Wave entrance formed behind him and he disappeared inside of it before it closed.

"He ran, huh… Bah. We've isolated his signature. We can track him anytime we want to. Let's go back to the Satella Police HQ and try to pursue investigations on "Zataki Tosho"…"

"Roger." Acid confirmed.

"Subaru…! I don't know what's happening to you, but… Believe on us! We're doing all in our power. We won't let those guys get away with it: you saved the world _thrice_ and never asked for anything in return… You're the kind of person everyone looks up to… I feel bad having imposed a censorship on your disappearance, but… We don't want those guys to win at psychological warfare…!" Acid Ace muttered.

He closed his right fist and made a grimace.

_I'll find you no matter what!_

09:49 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Good, good…"

"Boss" was looking at a hidden camera feed in which Albert was sparring with Lartes in a _kendo_ match: Omega was leaning his back against a wall and looked like he was thinking of a new trolling pun.

_Omega… I know what you're up to. Will you stop teasing Albert by joking about smuggling "intriguing magazines" into his bedroom? He doesn't deserve that level of trolling… Anyway… I know the Satella Police is looking into "Zataki Tosho" but I don't mind it: they won't be able to find me and will end up believing one of King's thugs put up a disguise and set an illusion up to shoo them away from his ugly Goth hide… Hah. And now I came up with a sarcastic description… Really… _

A ringing noise suddenly rang out and the man gasped: a purple stylized Alphabet "D" letter had shown up onscreen along with three four-pointed stars forming a triangular shape.

"_TS" is calling…! Ah. Wait, wait… I get it. "IQ" wants me to go play "high-class dinner" with them as I report to them… They shouldn't be suspecting anything: Mr. D. would've told me already… Let's play along: I need to fuel up their arrogance into making them believe they have me under their total control… _

He quickly hit the "RETURN" key and a communications window opened.

A man on his late twenties or early thirties showed up onscreen within an unlit room the background of which was invisible: no sounds echoed from the other end of the line.

The man had black neatly combed hair and unemotional brown eye irises: he was clean shaven, too.

Part of a tuxedo could be seen at the lower edge of the screen: he had an air of being in control of everything to his person.

"Mr. _Vadous_. It has been a while." The man calmly announced.

"Mr. Secretary… _That person _wishes to see me?" Vadous asked.

"Correct. Today's evening: 8 PM Japan Time. The usual place… The coordinates will be relayed 2 hours before in a secure manner."

"I understand." He calmly replied.

"Good. Well then… Goodbye."

The screen vanished and Vadous sighed in relief: he then stretched and began to tap the edge of the keyboard.

_Hmpf! I was waiting for this moment, truth to be told… I can implement one of the key components to ensure the good outcome of the "Scheme"… "IQ" will undoubtedly have me check the security of their intranet again, so that'll be my chance to "plant" a little "something" there… I'm always five steps ahead, "IQ"… You're slower than anything else. Heh. You yourself started it, "IQ", and didn't notice… You planted the seed of "rebellion" into me while trying to exert control over me… You can't enslave someone forever, not even with brainwashing… Deep inside of them there'll be the spark which will trigger the wish to break free! Anyway… Let's tell Omega to go out tonight and get rid of that one loose end which may be dangerous if I postpone it…_

He inputted some commands into the keyboard and then pressed the "RETURN" key: Omega glanced at the right side of his helmet and discreetly came out of the attic room and into the 2nd floor corridor next to the stairs: he headed for a large scroll depicting a black boar with red eyes: Omega held his right palm up and a laser light read it up: the eyes switched to green and the wall slid to the left to reveal a small elevator cabin: Omega stepped inside and the door closed again: Vadous turned off the live feed.

_Good. He's on his way here…_

He heard soft footsteps walking over concrete ground and the door slowly squeaked open although there apparently wasn't anyone.

"Omega. The trick with the stealth camouflage is outdated."

Omega deactivated it and stepped inside while humming a tune: Vadous frowned and seemed to recognize it.

"Wait, wait… Isn't that one of Hibiki Misora's newest songs? You've become a fan?" Vadous asked.

"Well… Sort of…"

"Don't try to…" Vadous began.

"I know: no imagery and no mentioning to Albert… I'm being careful with the VR simulator, too." Omega turned serious.

"Ah. I like that better. You've gotta be missing a real mission."

"Yeah. So I can go tell Super Hero – sama to go watch up all of _Robocop_'s movies?" Omega grinned.

"Not yet… I want you to go to Dealer's Orbital Base… I've been using it to move the money around but the Satella Police might think of checking it out, so… Destroy the the data, but the rest of the base will remain intact."

"Gotcha, Boss."

"Good. Go out when Albert and Lartes sleep. You're designed to be able to solo Denpa – Henkan, so it shouldn't be a problem to enter the "Cybernetics" of those computers. Kick out any Denpa – kuns or Wizards by claiming King decided they're fired… This will help place more suspicion on the guy and keep the cops busy." Vadous instructed.

"Slaughter?"

"Fine. But leave everything else intact. Wreck the keyboards and LCD screens if you want to, but make sure to leave the basic life-support systems and the orbit check programs on place: I don't wanna make it fall 'cause we don't wanna repeat _Skylab_."

"Huh… Sure. I'll put on the limiters, then."

"Good idea. Now rest and get ready for the evening."

"The shakin' and rumblin' evening, then?"

"… Whatever." Vadous looked unimpressed.

"Heh, heh. Rumble and shake!"

21:34 PM (Japan Time)…

_Time to play Sneak Man… Heh, heh, heh._

Omega slipped into one room: there was an interesting machine place inside it which was basically a pyramidal platform with a ring – like device tall enough for a person to fit inside: some computers and screens were attached to both sides of the ring.

_The "machine" Boss came up with… Heh, heh, heh. It looks like a _Stargate _rip-off… Anyway…_

He headed over to one control panel and inputted a five-digit numerical code into it: a laser light then scanned his right eye's retina and some beeps rang out.

"ID confirmed: Omega. Starting boot sequence…"

The machine hummed: purple static electricity began to travel the inner band of the ring and spun at an increasing speed: a mass of energy began to form and expanded to form a bubble-like object with a purplish coloring and a black mass set on the middle of it.

"Coordinates established… Destination: orbital facility…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Let's go~!" Omega grinned.

He jumped inside and ended up inside of a purple tunnel surrounded by a black "void" filled with random bolts of purple electricity: something gripped his body and he shot forward at an impossible speed before coming out of it inside of the Dealer Orbital Base: he panted and then looked around.

"Huff… This always thrills me… Heh, heh, heh. O. K. Let's slice and dice 'round this dusty thing… First stop… The main computer's bank data and all ramifications of it… Then I'll take care of the rubbish and sign the thing with Dealer's sign to reinforce the idea of their involvement… Heh, heh, heh…! _It's… Show time_~!"

He drew his saber and formed an almost psychopathic – like grin while his eyes shone with eagerness…

21:38 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Let's go over this again… You've seen _nothing_ suspicious going on around here for the last 30 days or so?"

"YO, YO, YO! No!"

"Fine."

"YO, YO, YO! Wait, wait… I gotta tell ya something."

"What?"

"YO, YO, YO! Guess what!"

"Tell me."

Acid Ace was speaking with Moon Disaster and seemingly trying to bear with his yells as he questioned him.

"YO, YO, YO! I came up with a new song! Wanna hear it?"

"Sing it to the penguins."

"YO, YO, YO! Fine!"

"Shidou." Acid called out.

"What? Yoiri – hakase is calling us back?" Acid Ace asked.

"No. Look at Dealer's Orbital Base."

Acid Ace looked up and gasped: some flashes of lighting and explosions were coming out of the structure.

"What the…? King hired someone to try to destroy incriminating data there, then? Crap! We should've thought of looking there earlier… Oi! You! Step aside! Satella Police Mission!" Acid Ace gasped before commanding Moon Disaster.

"YO, YO, YO! Roger, Admiral!"

"I'm not an Admiral but who cares…"

"YO, YO, YO!"

21:41 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Gra~h!"

"Ua~h!"

"Aie~h!"

"Gyah, hah, hah, ha~h! Run! Run for your ugly hides! Dealer's new top-class butcher is here! Mr. King says you grunts are fired! Go to the depths of the Black Hole Server and never come out again! Gyah, hah, hah, ha~h…!"

"This guy is crazy!"

"It's not even a Wizard!"

"What the hell is that guy?"

"Guo~h!"

"A~rgh!"

"Gu… Guwa~h!"

"Run for you bucks, Zenny or whatever! Run for your sanity! Run for your extinct and defunct steam locomotives!"

Omega was jumping madly around the structure of the Dealer Orbital base and destroying all Wizard or Denpa – kun on his path: his eyes had become red and a purple-tinted "aura" surrounded his figure.

"And be glad this is just 50% of my power! Were I at a 100%, I'd already split this whole thing into pieces to then let 'em burn up in the atmosphere~! Run for your deaf audio input systems! Run for your non-existent legs! Run, run and ru~n!"

"That's as far as you go!"

Omega suddenly stopped and looked over his right shoulder to see Acid Ace aiming his gun at him.

"Yo! Super Hero – sama came~!"

"You know who I am?"

"Of course I do… Aren't Super Heroes known across the world to begin with?" Omega teased with a grin as he quickly holstered his saber and folded his arms.

"Guess so… Anyway… What's going on?"

"King – sama wanted me to clean up his vacation resort."

"I knew it: the guy is behind this!"

"Yeah. But don't worry about Cadet – sama… He slipped out and seems to be hiding somewhere, somehow..."

"What?" Acid Ace gasped.

"Turns out that Security Guard – sama drank too much Martini and Hero – sama managed to sneak out through the _classical_ backdoor… And if I'm not mistaken, then it happened in the Bahamas five days ago…"

"Bahamas…! Five days ago…!" Acid Ace muttered.

"Anyway… Wanna go to the disco with your fan-girl mob?"

"No way…" Acid Ace groaned.

"Oho. Your girlfriend would get jealous?"

"Yeah. She's too dull."

"Then show her a good _zombie_ movie to impress her, will ya?"

"Maybe."

"Oho. Ya sound like a lawyer."

"No way…"

"Whaddya think 'bout my nice decoration?"

Omega signaled the control computer behind him: the Spade sign had been drawn on it using the saber.

"Spade, huh…" Acid Ace muttered.

"Yep. Wanna rumble?"

"No."

"Wanna shake?"

"No."

"Wanna slice?"

"No."

"Wanna dice?"

"No."

"Wanna run out before I turn you into food for the Demon King within His land?" Omega's grin grew wider.

"Crap." Acid Ace muttered.

He actually stepped back while Omega hummed a tune.

"Nice scenery." He merely commented.

"This guy is nuts or what?" Acid Ace wondered.

"Nah. I have a very dynamic personality."

"I can see that."

"You can see your doom?"

"Very funny."

"Heh, heh, heh. Ops. Boss is calling for me… Here's a lil message from Mr. King: get twice in his way and you're done for. And call me Mars Warrior, too."

"Mars Warrior…?"

Omega suddenly ran past him in a blur while sticking something to him and vanished: Acid Ace spotted a lipstick sticker set on his right shoulder.

"What the heck is going on?" He cursed aloud.

21:45 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Back home… Heh, heh, heh…"

Omega came out of the machine and it powered down: he then walked into the command room which was empty.

"Oh. True, true… Boss went to see "IQ" and is gonna keep the act up… Whatever. "IQ" will soon see how its "Empire" crumbles down into a new _Sengoku_ like it was before…" He muttered.

He sat down on the chair and began to type into the keyboard: he glanced at the screen and scrolled it down until he stopped.

"Oh… The two projects Boss had been working on before stopping work on them to put the "Scheme" forward… Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to complete them… We could be in need of them to keep the cops busy enough… If they suddenly bring out all of the Denpa – Henkan users, then I won't be enough. We'd need additional hands capable of battling several enemies at the same time…" He muttered.

He brought the right hand to his chin and then shrugged as he switched to live feed from the orbital facility: Acid Ace was still searching around and examining every corner.

"Shidou. The culprit has already run."

"I know that. I'm trying to calculate the extent of his power."

"You heard his yells: he was limited at using 50%."

"I know! Don't repeat everything to me… The essential systems are intact, but… There's a lot of missing data… It'd seem King was using this to control his bank accounts and manipulate the flow of money…"

"Makes sense. We should bring back a full investigation brigade."

"Yeah… Mars Warrior, huh… I'll be waiting to meet you again!"

"Same thing over 'ere, Super Hero – sama…" Omega grinned.

He chuckled under his breath and made an evil grin…

09:13 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday August the 10th…

"… Huh? Oh. Acid Ace showed up there, then… But Omega was rational enough to tease him with a believable tale and he then ran off… But that of the lipstick was going a bit overboard, I believe…"

Vadous was reading what seemed to be a report written by Omega the next morning as he sat on the chair.

"Fine. They'll be looking into the Bahamas and keep on believing King is the culprit… He did go somewhat out of bounds with the characterization, though… Well. It's not like it did any harm, anyway. He did what he was supposed to do… Huh? Mars Warrior… This sounds like it was inspired by "Moon Disaster", even… Good."

He switched screens and inputted some commands: a screen with the text "CALLING" popped out and the line connected.

A man on his early twenties with blond hair and green eyes showed up.

"Boss. Good morning." The man greeted.

"Good morning, Kir Osh. Is everything alright up there?"

"More or less…"

"Why?"

"Dragon." Kir Osh growled.

"Not again…" Vadous moaned.

"Yeah. He came up with iced chocolate." Kir Osh reported.

"It's iced _coffee_ not _chocolate_…! Did you pull his ears?"

"I did! But he acts like Confucius' soul was guiding him."

"No way…"

"Way, Boss. We're about to go and buy prepared meals and leave that guy to eat that stuff on his own." Kir Osh looked and sounded exasperated.

"We need to talk with him or else…"

"Oh. By the way… The new supercomputer's, Black Ace's, construction is almost over. I don't think it'll take more than another 20 hours…"

"Good job. Did you have a look at the stacked up projects to see if we could bring them back into action? We could need them."

"Yeah… They look pretty advanced and are only missing some finishing touches… Their "bodies" are also developed already and the only thing missing is setting the personality values and base… Plus some tuning of their abilities, too…" Kir Osh reported.

"Good enough… I'll work on them over here, so send them to me and we'll try to complete them to then begin "training" them. And tell Dragon my wrath is more terrible than an unleashed Choina dragon."

"Sure. He'll start sweating and stop fooling around."

"Fine. Call me again if he keeps at it tomorrow: I'll give him a scare that will set him straight."

"Delighted."

"And don't lower security, either."

"Of course not… Daratsu and Kro Kaze are working out in the VR simulator to get up to shape in case they need to take part into something."

"Tell Daratsu to be on standby: I may have a little mission for him soon enough…" Vadous sounded amused.

"Roger."

"Well then… Later."

"Good luck, Boss."

"Thanks."

"Hiya~… Uncle Bert came, Rik Hso! Champion of None Of Them!"

"Omega! Stop joking over the secure line and do something USEFUL!"

"Sure, _shachou_~… I'm off to bringing "some stuff" for Bertie~… Heh, heh!"

15:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… _Remove my heart… Do you think I'll let you do that? Jerk… I'll defeat you!"_

"_Ah! True! I have thought up of something good! I shall make your first battle stage be _that place_… Do think about it… Given how _that place _will end up in my hands, I intended to have fun with it… But it does not matter if it ends up broken up… I can always get plenty of other _places…_"_

"_What do you think those persons and _places _think of it…? His… _That place_'s inhabitants will end up suffering… You haven't thought of it?"_

"_This is a _place_ where everything becomes "null"… There is no need for those so-called "emotions"… Well then… Please rejoice. You shall become an endless existence within this "Darkness"… You shall become my property…"_

"_There's no such thing as "endless"…! That's "dying", you know!"_

"… _It cannot be helped… Well then, should we get down to the action itself already? It will take a bit of time, but you will eventually collapse from your inflicted wounds… I will do that and have sufficient entertainment later on…"_

"_Don't prattle around! We're the ones who are gonna win, ya know!"_

"… _The _weapons_ inside of this _fortress… _I can freely use all of them. Do you understand? In short: it means that you stand no chances of winning… Well then, let us go for it."_

"_Coming! Kid!"_

"_Yeah! This battle… I'll win it no matter what!"_

"… Ah!"

Albert suddenly woke up and lifted his head from the desk: he looked around in a confused manner and looked surprised.

_W-whoa… What a large conversation! This could be a critical piece of evidence…! Gotta write it down!_

Albert quickly wrote it down while putting either _hiragana _or _katana_ as replacement for the _kanji_ he didn't know: he then read it up again and looked thoughtful.

"Fortress… Weapons… A polite male person… Places… People… "Null"… "Death"… "Darkness"… Hmmm… Somewhat vague, in the end, yet it seems to add up to Master's hypothesis…! This could be a keystone to finding more info about the culprits of my wounds…" He muttered aloud.

"… _I… I've been… by this… Fine… I lose… But, young one… You are a step closer to "death"…!"_

"_W-what?"_

"_All the _weapons_ I hold… Are being duplicated into another _fortress_… In… THE _fortress_…!"_

"_You jerk…! Quit with the badmouthing already!"_

"… _That power… Once the 5 _crests_ shine, it shall awaken… It will… annihilate you people and your _nation_ in one fell swoop! And one more thing… I shall have you burden it! You will be fated to battle a rival for all eternity…!"_

"_What are you saying? What do you mean?"_

"_Heh, heh, heh… Farewell, young one!"_

"… Huh? Whoa! I spaced out again… Is that the continuation…? Then I and that gruff voice won the battle…? But… I don't get what he was talking about at all…" He sounded surprised.

He then shrugged and wrote it down before spotting a scarecrow set in front of his window and gasping: Omega popped out at its right, grinned, and jumped towards the roof with the scarecrow in tow.

"Really… Omega – san! That wasn't nice, sir… Let's speak this with Master later on: we're making huge progress and maybe we could find the bad guys and have the police arrest them!"

He managed to smile and looked content…


	6. Chapter 5: Blood Shadow

**Chapter 5: Blood Shadow**

08:08 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 25th…

"… Let's see… Storage #14 was around here, if memory serves…"

The man known as Kir Osh was walking down a curved metallic corridor somewhere: some arches had been erected every a few hundred meters while armored labeled doors were set at both sides of it: the vault-like ceiling contained fluorescent lights to illuminate the corridor.

Kir Osh wore armor very similar to those sported by Vadous and Lartes: he didn't have a cloak, though, and carried one sword sheath attached to the right side of it: his emblem's drawing was the Alphabet letter "K" colored purple.

He didn't seem to be taller than a meter and seventy.

"Oho. Here it is… Eh… The password was… Lemme check."

He stopped in front of an armored door with the label "STORAGE #14" and then took out a Hunter – VG to begin scroll down a list.

"Found ya… Huh? Omega… He changed it again! Only he would think of something so illogical… Let's try to see if he really did it or not…"

He pressed a button of a small control panel set at the right of the door.

"Please enter the password."

"Europa's Hidden Ocean." Kir Osh announced.

"Incorrect."

_Crap. I knew it!_

"… Eh… Rolling pizzas having arms, legs, and faces…" Kir Osh slowly muttered while seemingly holding back his bad mood.

"Correct."

The door buzzed and unlocked while Kir Osh slapped his face in defeat using the left hand: he looked totally exasperated.

"Omega… And then Dragon… What's with this ship?" He muttered in a grim tone of voice.

He stepped into the small storage room and picked a small armored box without any distinctive or labels: he then came out and locked the door behind him.

"Thanks for visiting Crazy Omega's smuggling bay. We hope to see ya droppin' by before I count to ten." The auto-voice announced.

"What the… He even changed the automated message when coming out of the room? That guy… He's driving us crazy!" Kir Osh uttered.

He walked up the corridor while mumbling under his breath to then enter a room having a machine identical to the one Omega had used.

"Let's see… The initialization code was… Gotcha."

Kir Osh inputted a code but a loud buzz rang out followed by a pre-recorded giggle.

"Troll time! Who was the architect of the HQ?" Omega's pre-recorded voice asked.

Kir Osh slapped his face again and looked about to explode.

"Omega~! This is going too far! You've got no right to make life harder for us! Wait until I taint your hair pink and then we'll see who laughs last! He who laughs last laughs better! And the password is "Boss", by the way! Start up already!" Kir Osh exploded.

The machine hummed and activated: Kir Osh lazily threw the box inside of it and began to head out without bothering to check the machine: he slammed the door on his way out and growled.

"Omega~! Wait until you show your hide around! I'll sabotage your weapons and then let's see you getting outta a mess using just your hands! Hmpf! Hah! Che!" He growled.

He began to walk away at a brisk pace while making a grimace.

_I'll remember this!_

08:33 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Weird. Did I just feel like someone was badmouthing me? Oho. Kir Osh must have found out 'bout my little "customizing" of the HQ… Heh, heh, heh… I'm a genius."

Omega was sparring with a simulated Grave Joker and muttering aloud: he calmly jumped into the air to dodge his arms' swings and landed atop his head: he then formed two purple spheroids and dropped them inside of the curved tubes which generated from his back before jumping away: a large explosion ensued and Grave Joker roared: Omega gave the guy no break and suddenly dashed forward while cutting the air forming a half-moon's shape: Grave Joker's body was split into two around the waist and he then blew up with a large roar of agony.

"Heh, heh. Cheap, too cheap… But, then again, this was just V2. I'll be dropping by the Black Hole Server one day to try to take his "RR" version on… It'll be excitin'…" Omega muttered.

"Omega…" Vadous' voice came in through the radio.

"Yo! Boss. What's up?"

"Kir Osh contacted me. And I didn't like his report."

"Oho. He woke up with the left leg."

"That's not it! We always have to change your "customizing" back because it makes life harder for us! Aren't you supposed to have a mental age of 16~18 years old? Prove it! You're acting like a 5th grader!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Guess the Ameroupe movies influenced me."

"That's why traditional Japanese values are better than all those repetitive pointless _clichés_!" Vadous growled.

"Sure thin', Mr. Tradition."

"I give up…! I need to work on the other two projects… We'll talk later and I won't be a in a good mood!" Vadous hissed.

Omega shrugged while Vadous hissed something under his breath…

08:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… What the… Didn't come today, either… Where the heck did that guy go to?"

"Yu…"

"Shut up."

"Da…"

"I know that! I haven't seen a hair outta the guy ever since the end of June and that was time ago!"

"Yu… Da…"

"Shut up…!"

"Yu… Ga…"

"What? _Ask_ someone? Hmpf. Can't be helped, huh?"

"Yu…"

"Whatever. Just be silent."

Burai jumped to another Cosmo Wave section of the set around Planet FM and the slowly drifting Black Hole Server: he spotted a Cosmo Denpa – kun and drew his sword which he aimed at it in a hostile manner: they gasped.

"You lowlife."

"Y-y-yes, s-s-s-sir?"

"Rock Man showed up here?"

"N-n-n-no, s-s-s-sir…!"

"When was the last time?"

"E-end of J-June, sir..."

"Hmpf. Fine."

He suddenly warped and the Denpa – kun sighed in relief…

09:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Shidou… How many times do I have to tell you? Eating so many "Sweet Candy" won't do you good. At all."

"You're starting to sound like a babysitter."

"That cannot be."

"Well then, Queen Tia has appointed you to watch my eating habits."

"Maybe so."

"Ya sound like a lawyer."

"Acid Ace…"

"Huh? Whoa! Solo!"

Shidou had been discussing with Acid as he ate some "Sweet Candy" from a bag he carried when Solo (leaning his back against the wall of an alley and having his eyes closed) called out to him.

"Where's Rock Man?" He questioned.

"King abducted him one month ago and now we're trying to find him in the Bahamas since a jerk named Mars Warrior told us he'd slipped outta his hands there." Shidou sighed.

"King, huh… That jerk… Bahamas… Fine. What kind of man is that "Mars Warrior"? A grunt?"

"No grunt… A butcher."

"Butcher?" Solo seemed to lift an eyebrow.

"Hyperactive. Swept through the orbital base and managed to ditch me in a swift move. Haven't seen him again ever since two weeks ago..."

"Hmmm… Might be worth my time." Solo muttered.

"Do as ya like."

"That's my motto."

"I'm leaving: I don't wanna waste your time."

"Hmpf. That's being sharp."

"Is that a critic?" Shidou sarcastically asked.

"Hmpf. Whatever."

"Well then: go take it out on King and make him speak about his accomplices."

"Yeah. I've got a pending score to settle with the jerk… Laplace. Stop fooling around and let's go."

"Ya… Du…"

"Hey. But don't then try to beat Rock Man up. It's not like he intended to be kidnapped, you know."

"I know."

Solo warped out of the alley and Shidou shrugged: he didn't spot the elderly man involved in Subaru's kidnapping spying on him from a distance while holding a cigar on his right hand's fingers.

"Heh. Our prideful solo warrior is going to enter the picture… Too late for you, though, Solo… The "projects" are almost complete… And we'll see if your confidence leads to a shameful defeat… Heh, heh, heh…" The man muttered with a hint of amusement.

He quickly ran out before Shidou could notice him, but he was busy discussing with Acid.

"… And tell Queen Tia that if she's got something to complain about, then she better tell me in the face instead of using you as a proxy! Gotcha?"

"Maybe so."

"Oh! Come on! Stop speaking like an outdated lawyer!"

"I am not a lawyer."

Shidou rolled his eyes and fumed…

09:45 AM (Japan Time)…

_Block!_

Albert blocked the next swing of his Master and held in place while they dueled during their _kendo_ training.

_Hold two seconds and then counter him! _

He did so, surprising his Master, who had to enter defensive mode, although Albert managed to score a hit on his Master's left shoulder pad.

_Hit!_

He backed off and assumed a defensive position just as his Master attacked: he felt a hit on his right leg pad but didn't seem to mind it as he kept on defending.

_Cool it, Albert. There's still a whole minute remaining and you need to focus. Your score's only beaten Master by five points. He could easily beat it. I need another two strikes to have a slight safety margin and then I can win this round_.

He suddenly countered his Master's next strike when it was mid-way and scored two hits on the chest and on the right shoulder pad.

_Yeah! Like this…!_

A buzzer signaled the end of the match: a Real Wave screen popped out and both looked at the results.

_I did it! I won by 8 points of difference! I'm getting sharper!_

"Good job, Albert! I'm impressed you managed to counter me mid – way. Not many can do that. You're improving a lot."

"Thank you, Master."

"And don't worry: we'll keep on working on trying to put together what you remember. Now go have a shower and cool it down." Lartes smiled at him.

"Roger, sir."

Albert stepped out of the room and closed the door: Lartes then headed over to the bench and picked his Hunter – VG into which he inputted a password: Vadous showed up onscreen.

"What's up, Boss?" Lartes asked in a whisper.

"Lartes. I need your helping hand tonight. We need to finish the two projects which are on the last leg: over 95% complete. Kir Osh worked a lot on it but feels too tired and stressed today so I recommended to him to switch off. And I don't trust Omega because he could sneak a "troll" into their programming: I need them to be serious for the time being and then I'll unlock their "dynamic" capability…" Vadous detailed.

"Hmmm… Are we in a rush?"

"Yeah. Burai came into the picture as we'd thought. I'd like to give him a little surprise to throw people off a bit… DSSRM will do fine. Project S would help cover his back just in case."

"DSSRM… Ain't that way too long?"

"Well… Do you have any better ideas?"

"Yeah. Have we decided on the armor color yet?" Lartes asked with a broad grin.

"No. I was going to go for purple, but… It feels too _clichéd_. Black and pale green would do fine with Project S, but…" Vadous trailed off.

"Crimson would do fine, I believe."

"Crimson…? Well… Why not? Crimson is a very manly color, too." Vadous seemed to be thinking about it.

"Yeah. So we could paint him crimson and I've just come up with an intriguing name for the guy…" Lartes teased.

"Teasing?" Vadous looked amused.

"Yeah. "Blood Shadow" would do fine, I believe…"

Both chuckled under their breaths and looked amused…

10:05 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh! Akatsuki – san… Did you find something new?"

"Not really… Solo is going to check around, too."

"No wonder…"

Misora was speaking with Shidou as he lazily looked up several reports with the label "BAHAMAS" inside of his work area: she looked somewhat worried while Shidou seemed to be calm.

"I hope we get a hold on Subaru – kun soon… Unless those bad guys managed to catch him again…" Misora muttered.

"Yeah. We're rather stuck, unfortunately enough…" Harp sighed.

"How is War Rock – kun taking it like?"

"He tries to play the strong and confident but he keeps on being worried and on the edge: he had another row with Cygnus and Acid had to separate them." Harp admitted.

"Correct." Acid merely added.

"So, how are we supposed to find him in such a gigantic amount of islands as the Bahamas?"

"Easy… We look for recently found orphaned children or ones who have been reported to the police… But, insofar, he doesn't show up in the 80% of the recent cases…" Shidou replied.

"And Bahamas might be a fake lead set up by Mars Warrior, too." Harp suggested to them.

"That's why there's another investigation checking on any places known to have connections to King…" Shidou shrugged.

"Ah. So we're searching in both fronts, then… That's good."

"Yeah. By the way, could you give us a hand and check some Noise Waves, too? That new version of the "Ace Program" should give you further resistance to it."

"Sure. I want to be helpful, after all!"

"Should we count on Ox, too?" Harp suggested.

"I'd rather have him act as defense line for the Kodama Town area just in case… Also, we've checked Kyuu and Gori but both seem to be rather clean… Hyde is nowhere to be found, but King keeps on moving around a lot as if to difficult locating him… I'd stake my Zenny on the guy."

"Yeah. If he was so willing to use that doomsday Meteor G, then it shouldn't be a surprise." Misora sighed.

"And if you find him, then you have my permit to pull his ears and have him talk up everything. Tell him about Mars Warrior and watch his face and voice closely: he'll try to play the victim but I know his acts way too well by now." Shidou suggested.

"Delighted. I'll be going. Good-bye."

"See ya."

Misora ran off into the front yard and failed to stop a figure looking towards her using a set of binoculars.

_So, our Miss Singer wants to play Miss Detective… I don't think Kir Osh will worry about that: it was obvious they were going to use all possible help to run as many investigations as possible… And we already altered the data just in case "IQ" tries to snoop around… Huh?_

The figure lowered the binoculars and then noticed how its hands were glued to it: the figure cursed under its breath.

_Omega! You put resin in the binoculars to troll me, didn't you? You really need someone to tell you to be serious, and it'd seem only Boss can do that…! But once the new "projects" are complete then they'll be able to do a good and serious job… I'd rather say Burai will find out what a bad idea it is to let one's skills rust up… Heh, heh, heh. _

The figure managed to free the hands and snuck away while chuckling.

_This is about to get more intense!_


	7. Chapter 6: Isn't that?

**Chapter 6: Isn't that…?**

07:07 AM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 26th…

"… Dust, dust and even more dust. No – one seems to have come here in months. So maybe my hunch was not that good…"

"Da…"

"Shut up."

"Yu…"

"I know I'm not perfect but I feel like an idiot by coming to such an obvious spot… Those grunts must've been here, too…"

"Da…"

"What? These marks are extremely fresh? Then… Someone just came here ahead of me?"

"Yu… Ga…"

"Hmpf. Fine. Let's see who it is."

Burai was searching the insides of the Crimson Factory and looking around: he spotted a trail of footsteps on the dust and began to follow it upwards the large central machine until he reached the very top: the footsteps seemed to end there.

"Bingo. Denpa – Henkan user… Maybe that "Mars Warrior" guy came here, even…" He formed a smug smile.

"Ga…"

Burai entered the Cybernetics of the machine and began to trace the pathway: most of the area was unlit as if to depict its abandoned status plus the large amounts of dust.

"Hmpf. Dust won't help you hide… I can smell your aura and it reeks of power… This will be worth my time, I think."

"Ga…"

Burai finally reached the final area where the inactive Mu device was set at and spotted a figure giving him the back and examining the device: some sort of purplish thick fog surrounded it thus making it hard to discern any features.

"You lowlife. That's as far as you come." Burai announced.

"Hmmm? My. Burai! Been a while, ain't it?" A familiar voice asked with a hint of amusement.

"What?"

"Forgotten me?"

"You lowlife aren't Mars Warrior?"

"What? Oh, no… Mars Warrior – sama sent me to check this place out in case we could recycle it." The figure calmly replied as it turned around: the purplish fog kept on surrounding it.

"Then cast aside that mantle and face me."

"Sure thing… Wait a min… Eh… To switch this off… Ah. Found it: this is how it's switched off… Heh, heh, heh… Get ready, Burai, for a surprising thing…" The figure muttered.

The fog slowly faded away and Burai gasped.

"Y-you lowlife are…!"

"Yeah. Me."

The figure was revealed to be _Rock Man_, but with several design alternations to him.

He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there.

Where the hand would be a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"R-Rock Man…?" Burai gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh. Been a while, Burai!"

"Is that you lowlife…?"

"Yeah! But call me _Blood Shadow_. I've changed."

"What?"

"Didn't the guys tell you? King abducted me and I then managed to run away from them. Mars Warrior – sama found me and offered me a chance to gain a new power… Personal power… I liked the idea since I'd stopped believing on those fragile "bonds" weeks ago… I became a disciple of the organization's leader and have gained a new power… The "Dark Power" so as to speak…" He exposed.

"Dark Power, huh… Ironic, ain't it?" Burai calmly replied.

"You haven't changed, either, Burai… But that's to be expected of you: it's your style to be cold and hostile to everyone."

"Where's that Mars Warrior man at?"

"At the HQ, I'd rather believe."

"Where's that "HQ" at?"

"Can't tell ya, see… But he did order me to give ya this message: he's gonna come and have a thrill with ya soon enough… In about three to four days…" Blood Shadow shrugged.

"Fine. In the meanwhile… I'll test out that so-called "Dark Power" you lowlife claim having… It'll be worth my time. Hmpf… And I'll take back the time I wasted searching clues…" Burai calmly drew the Laplace sword.

"Come anytime." Blood Shadow calmly challenged.

"Hra~h!"

Burai warped and dropped down from above, but Blood Shadow had already rolled across the ground and gotten out of the shockwave's area: Burai gasped and looked behind him.

"I remember all of your attacks, Burai."

"Hmpf."

"And I've gained some new Battle Cards and tricks, too."

"Whatever. Flying Knuckle!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Gotcha."

"What!"

Blood Shadow suddenly warped and drew a Sword Fighter X which he used to hit and disable Burai's Mu Rejection: he then placed the barrels of the shotgun, which were shining with energy, on Burai's upper torso and fired.

"GUAH!"

The blast sent Burai flying across the space and he landed, hard, on the ground, while he uttered something and clutched his chest in apparent agony: he panted and slowly tried to sit up again.

"Grah… That shotgun wasn't decoration…!"

"Did you really think it was?"

"Crap…! I gotta be careful or else…!" Burai grimly muttered.

"What… Foreseeing your defeat?"

"No."

"Heh, heh, heh… That's the Burai I know."

"Whatever. Laplace Sword!"

The Laplace Sword swept the terrain coming from the NE and heading SW to then show up from the NW and head SE: Blood Shadow calmly stepped the necessary number of steps back or jumped over it without seemingly caring: but he suddenly found Burai in front of his noises who delivered his four-hit combo: Blood Shadow groaned and tried to aim the shotgun only for Burai to grip it and pull from it.

"Let go!" Blood Shadow groaned.

"Take this on for a change!"

Burai kicked him on the lower jaw and then delivered a punch at the right side of the shades: it shattered to reveal how Blood Shadow's irises color was a mix of red and golden by now.

"Another effect from the "Dark Power", huh… Whatever."

"This guy…!"

"I'm not done yet."

Burai grabbed the loaded shotgun and placed its barrels on the ground to then force it to fire: the recoil sent Blood Shadow flying across the air before Burai jumped towards him and delivered a kick to the chest thus making him fall into the ground: Blood Shadow cursed under his breath and quickly stood up while he rubbed his chest.

"T-this JERK…!" He cursed.

"Hmpf. That sounds manlier." Burai made a smug smile and looked slightly amused.

"Che! I've gotten serious!"

"So it'd seem. About time."

"Complimenting me or mocking me?"

"Pick whichever suits you most."

"Clever bothersome guy!"

"Hmpf. Let's go~!"

"Fine!"

Blood Shadow ran forward at the same time Burai did and began loading up his shotgun: Burai drew his Laplace Sword and grinned as he swept it on a wide arch: Blood Shadow ducked and skid across the ground until he placed the shotgun's barrels on Burai's chest and shot again: Burai "exploded" all of a sudden.

"Double!" Blood Shadow gasped.

"Yeah. Take this!"

Burai showed up behind him, gripped his neck, and turned him around to hit his helmet's forehead's with Blood Shadow's thus creating a CLONG sound which echoed inside of Blood Shadow's helmet: he tried to focus but Burai was already beating him up using his punches and kicks: Blood Shadow groaned and tried to step back only to step into a hidden Giga Mine Battle Card.

"Gra~h!"

He landed hard on the ground and tried to stand up although several bruises and wounds had formed on his body armor: he panted and hissed something under his breath.

"Heh. I've learnt a few tricks from you lowlife." Burai grinned.

"Che… And here I thought you were the conservative type."

"A warrior must innovate if they wish to survive."

"I knew that!"

"Then prove it."

"Fine! Special Ability: Continuous Healing!"

"What!"

"When my HP fall under 200 points, then I can engage it. I'll be recovering 5 HP per second! How's that one like?"

"Che."

"Heh, heh, heh. And my max HP is 900 points, by the way."

"Whatever. Mine are 1800 points and I'm at about 1200 points by now. I can go on for a while."

"We'll see 'bout that…"

"What?"

"Heh, heh, heh. Dark Axe!"

"What!"

Blood Shadow drew a purple-colored Great Axe Battle Card and hit Burai with it: Burai groaned and stepped back while panting as Blood Shadow suddenly closed in and delivered another attack: Burai hissed and suddenly countered by hitting the torso with the Laplace sword: both then separated and panted to recover their breath.

"Heh… Intense…! Hadn't had one like this in ages… Maybe it's true that you lowlife took me seriously…!" Burai sounded amused.

"The circumstances showed me how silly I was. It was about time I got serious." Blood Shadow calmly replied.

"Fine… This new "serious" style… I'll make sure to keep coming back to have a full experience with it… But still got about 800 HP left…"

"And mine have climbed back up to 450…"

"Let's go for more!"

"Sure. I have another two hours of free time, anyway."

"Hra~h!"

"Hya~h!"

Burai began shooting out his knuckles but Blood Shadow jumped across the air and suddenly ignited some jets attached to his boots' sides to hover across the air: he drew the Mad Vulcan X Battle Card and bombarded the field with shots: Burai "exploded" again.

"What!"

Blood Shadow gasped to see the real one jump behind him and grab his shoulders from behind.

"Ground."

He suddenly jumped and hit Blood Shadow's back with both feet thus propelling him into the ground: Blood Shadow groaned and tried to stand up only for Burai to land with the sword drawn and cause a shockwave which flipped him up and had him roll across the ground.

"C-crap…!"

"Hmpf. It'd seem you lowlife's reflexes have gotten somewhat rusty… But that's fine anyway… I'm having a thrill."

"Grah… Guh… 220 HP left but steadily recovering…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Then I'll settle it in one blow! Ha~h!"

"Guo~h!"

Burai's shockwave hit the floor again and he chained in a rush of punches and kicks which sent Blood Shadow flying until he crashed against the inactive Mu device, bounced off it, and fell into the ground collapsing into his knees while panting.

"C-crap… This guy gets deadlier as you lower his HP…"

"Hmpf. I win."

"Y-yeah… Guess I need some more… training… been somewhat neglecting as of late…"

"So! What's the source of that "Dark Power" thing?"

"S-sorry, but… Boss came up with that program... He's a terrifically good programmer… So you won't be able to find it elsewhere…"

"Hmmm… It'd say this settles the score with those "bonds"… I feel largely satisfied to have actually brought you lowlife to your limits again like I did back when I used that tool Empty gave me…"

"S-sure thing… Man… That was a nightmare, really…"

"Good job, Blood Shadow! Now it's my turn!" An unknown male voice suddenly rang out.

"T-that voice is…! _Aibou_…!" Blood Shadow gasped.

"… Oho. More grunts are on their way here?" Burai looked amused.

"Come at full power!" The voice challenged.

"That's my motto."

Someone landed into the area after dropping down from above:

The newcomer was about two meters tall and colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

His spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.

Overall, he seemed to be tall and imposing.

"My name is Sigma: I love intense battling and sending grunts flying all the way to Alaska with one swing of my sword!" He announced.

"Hmmm… You lowlife's body emits an aura of power I'd never felt before, it'd seem… It doesn't seem to be much higher than… Blood Shadow's… one, yet… Every inch of you lowlife's body announces power." Burai brought the left hand to his chin.

"M-my bad, Sigma… I messed it up…" Blood Shadow told him.

"Heh! Don't mind it, _aibou_… Ya simply didn't count on this guy's new tricks and we neglected his presence way too much…" Sigma shrugged.

"Heh, heh, heh. So you lowlife are next. Fine. Come!"

"Oho. I'd love to, but… Ya are wounded, ya see. I'm not allowed to fight an opponent unless they're at full power… Isn't that playing fair?"

"… Hmpf. True." Burai lowered the sword.

"But don't worry… I'll come back to fight ya in a few hours' time…"

"That's good for me. Blood Shadow… Sigma… You lowlifes will be my "entertainment"…" Burai grinned.

"Do as ya like! Let's go, _aibou_… Mars Warrior – sama is waitin' for our report!" Sigma told him.

"Yeah… Give me a lift… See ya, Burai – sama~!"

Blood grabbed Sigma's right forearm with his left hand and they vanished while Burai chuckled under his breath.

"Ga… Yu… Da…"

"What? That game again…? Oh. Shut up. You lowlife always make it glitch and bogus." Burai grumbled.

Burai ran off the area and landed back on the ground level: he walked out into the underground hall and looked amused.

"Hmmm… Nah. I won't tell Acid Ace. I'm sure they'll be going to show them his new serious side… Blood Shadow… You lowlife have now added more "value" to your existence… Come anytime… I'll be waiting to see if you lowlife can overcome me…" Burai muttered.

He suddenly warped inside of the Noise Wave and began to cut and slice through the hordes of Denpa Viruses: he managed to come out of the Noise Wave and wandered around the Bermuda Maze Area until he reached the square overlooking the exact spot over where Mu's remains where located at.

"Hmmm? I suddenly feel a distinct "smell" coming from the ruins… What could it be? Someone was here. Someone… Powerful. Maybe that Mars Warrior guy was here…? Hmpf. Robbery again… I shall teach those lowlifes who they're messing with. Nobody robs anything from Mu! Che!"


	8. Chapter 7: Attack on WAXA

**Chapter 7: Attack on WAXA**

18:05 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 26th…

"… Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Che."

"Calm down, Shidou."

"How? Drinking black tea?"

"No."

"Then tell me, know-it-all guy!"

"I don't know."

"See?"

"You're getting nervous."

"Obviously!"

Shidou was yelling at Acid as he apparently tried to sort out something from a pile of reports: he looked rather annoyed while Acid kept his calm tone.

"Stressing won't help you find Hoshikawa." Acid insisted.

"Don't tell me! How do I find him, then? Knocking at every door in the Bahamas?" Shidou sarcastically asked.

"That's not possible."

"Aren't we called the Satella _Police_ for something?" Shidou brought up with obvious annoyance.

"But we only can operate in Japan." Acid reminded him.

"Che."

"Do as you like."

"Hmmm? A message… "BS"… Do we know any guys named "BS", anyway, or should I treat this as spam messaging?" Shidou asked as he looked at his Hunter – VG.

"No subject, either…" Acid added.

"Let's check it out… "Officer Akatsuki – sama~! It's about to rain bloody shadowy stuff on your large and cool toy which will make it rumble and shake 'till it demands more _sake_… Yours nicely and wisely, B. S." … What the heck is this?" Shidou read aloud and looked somewhat perplexed at the message.

"I do not know." Acid dully replied.

"I wasn't asking ya." Shidou scoffed and looked elsewhere.

"Who were you asking, then?" Acid sounded puzzled.

"Dunno. Maybe Mr. Universe." Shidou grinned.

"I don't see the point." Acid pointed out.

"There's no point in beating around the bush like ya always do."

"I am programmed like this." Acid quickly replied.

"Yeah. And a lawyer programmed ya." Shidou shrugged.

"No."

"A prosecutor or a judge, then."

"Wrong."

"Oh. Wait, wait… A university bureaucrat, then." Shidou sounded amused.

"Wrong!" Acid grumbled.

"Heh. It'd seem I'm breaking your patience."

"True."

"Calling on trouble~!" A voice suddenly rang out of nowhere.

"Who…?" Shidou gasped.

There was an explosion sound followed by the yells of what seemed to be cavalry troops breaking through something and then charging forward at the calling of a trumpet: yells of confusion and panic accompanied it until there was a sound and all died down.

"Intrusion into the 57th floor confirmed… Intrusion into the Main Computer confirmed…" Acid reported.

"Mars Warrior…? He sure is fond of dramatic entrances." Shidou muttered aloud.

"What do we do?"

"Go meet him, obviously!"

"Fine."

"Denpa – Henkan! Akatsuki Shidou, On Air!"

Shidou and Acid became Acid Ace and he rushed into the elevator: it quickly climbed upwards and he checked his weaponry: he then stepped into the command room where everyone looked confused.

"What happened?" Acid Ace asked.

"Oh. Shidou – chan… Someone broke through the defenses with that terrific scandal and got inside of the Main Computer…!" Dr. Yoiri exclaimed.

"Hum. So the earlier message meant to say this… Fine. I guess the culprits is Mars Warrior, so I'm gonna tell him what I think about his dramatic entrances style." Acid Ace muttered.

"We called on Harp Note and she's on her way here: Ox Fire seems to be out of the city, so it'd take longer for him to get here. Cygnus Wing is running investigations and also would take too much, so…" The WAXA Chief announced.

"I get the picture: I'll try to stall for time. I wanna force him to clarify some spots."

"Good luck."

Acid Ace ran inside of the Main Computer's Cybernetics and made his way through it until he reached the backbone: it seemed to be deserted.

"Yo! Officer Akatsuki – sama~! Cha number #1 fan is over 'ere and ready to blow things up with his nice little toy~!" A voice rang out.

"Mars Warrior. Show your hide."

"Sorry! But Mars Warrior – sama was busy, ya see~! I came on his orders to surprise ya~!"

"What? A companion…?"

"More like an apprentice, ya see~!"

"That Kansai dialect is killing me." Acid Ace muttered.

"Well! Sorry! But it sounds cooler than my everyday Kanto dialect, Officer Akatsuki – sama~!" The voice sounded amused.

"Enough chit-chat. Show your hide already."

"Sure thin', Officer Akatsuki – sama~!"

Blood Shadow dropped down from above and grinned: his shades had been fixed and his wounds healed from the earlier battle: Acid Ace gasped and looked surprised.

"Su – Subaru…?"

"Yep! That's me. Been a while~!"

"No way…! What have they done to you?"

"What, what? There's a lil misunderstandin' 'ere… I decided this on my own, ya see~! I stopped believin' in that "bonds" and "hero" stuff after a whole week passed ever since King's grunts caught me..."

"What?"

"I tried to go to the police, but King had bought them! I managed to escape again thanks to Mars Warrior – sama. His earlier talk was to prevent ya guys from getting spoiled."

"Then… He doesn't work for King?"

"Nope! He works for another organization altogether… I realized something back then which has changed my views."

"What's that?"

"I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it before, but… Really. What can I do _without_ my Denpa Body?" He sighed.

"Ah… That's…" Acid Ace gasped.

"Nothing! Nothing at all! I was powerless! Can you understand that feeling, Akatsuki – san? Despair… Fear… Terror… It was consuming me and that was what King was aiming for. I almost broke down there and I only managed to remain sane by feigning conversations with War Rock about his jokes and trying to recall most of our experiences… But I slowly tried to cling into one tiny remaining piece of "hope" and waited for my chance… You guys know the rest." He sighed and sounded sad.

"… And if you're alright, then… Why didn't you tell your parents or War Rock?" Acid Ace asked.

"… I didn't feel like it… I thought they'd try to blame War Rock for not being there back then to help me… And War Rock could end up getting annoyed and ditching me altogether…" He sighed again.

"Hum. You have a point… But why did you bother to make such a dramatic entrance?"

"I'm still training to master this new power… My own power, power flowing from my own person… The "Dark Power"…"

"What!"

"But don't worry… It may be called "Dark Power" but that's like a Denpa Henkan name… It's not like Akatsuki – san is literally an "ace" made of "acid" or an "acid ace", right?"

"You've got a point, true… So, the reason you came here was…?"

"One: to relieve you guys. Two… To battle."

"You've been ordered to?"

"Correct. But no hard feelings, really. VR isn't enough to know how to battle… Our VR simulation of Burai is now outdated given the beat-up he gave me some hours ago."

"Burai actually _beat_ you?"

"Yeah… But I don't regret it, really."

"… Come at full power!" A distant voice roared.

"What was that?" Acid Ace asked.

"_Aibou_ came."

"_Aibou_ came?"

"True. I have a new _aibou_… Nice fella. He's keeping Misora – chan busy but I will be settling our score with her tomorrow."

"Hum. Well… I guess we should start?"

"Please don't hold back on me, Akatsuki – san. I want to be able to qualify as a Satella Police member again and don't desire to go back and given a "favoritism" treatment."

"Fine."

"Wave Battle, Ride On!"

"Come!"

Blood Shadow suddenly jumped across the air and shot a Giza Wheel X Battle Card at Acid Ace: he gasped and barely dodged only to be hit by a Kobarashi X Battle Card followed by a Daba Flame X Battle Card: Acid Ace groaned and tried to maneuver only to step into a Giga Mine Battle Card and ending up flying: he landed back in the ground in a sloppy manner while panting.

"Well? Am I serious enough?" Blood Shadow calmly asked.

"Gotta focus or else…!" Acid Ace grimly muttered.

"Voltic Eye X!"

"What!"

A Voltic Eye formed on the field and its cursors scanned the field before locking on Acid Ace and electrocuting him plus inflicting paralysis: Blood Shadow quickly hit him with an Elec Sword and the Sword Fighter X Battle Card in a row before backing up.

"I need to focus! Wing Blade!"

"Heh, heh, heh…"

"Crap."

Blood Shadow jumped atop Acid Ace and then placed the barrels of his shotgun on the rear of his body: he shot and Acid Ace's thrusters blew up this inflicting damage to him: he groaned and whipped around to try to shoot at Blood Shadow but he'd already brought up a Super Barrier Battle Card to protect himself from harm.

"What's wrong, Akatsuki – san? Holding back?"

"Not really, but…!" He muttered.

"Didn't you try to go all out on Queen Tia – sensei?"

"I did but that was because she was the enemy."

"Ah… Ally… Enemy… That line diving them gets really blurry from time to time, did you know it?"

"Yeah… I get that feeling from time to time."

"Then come at me."

"Fine! Lock Sword!"

Acid Ace locked on Blood Shadow and delivered five consecutive sword attacks which managed to pierce the Super Barrier: but Blood Shadow calmly lifted his right arm and shot an already prepared shot at Acid Ace thus making him recoil and groan: Acid Ace rushed towards Blood Shadow and suddenly warped out of sight.

"What?" Blood Shadow gasped.

"Yo."

Blood Shadow gasped but didn't have time to react as Acid Ace rammed into him from the SE and brought him until the NW corner to crash against the backbone's side: Blood Shadow groaned and tried to shoot the shotgun: it didn't respond and he checked it to find a sticker with a "prohibited" sign drawn inside.

"What's this thing?" He gasped.

"Heh, heh. A little something I came up with… It locks programs during 60 seconds and gives me time to recover."

"Che. Whatever… Thunderbolt…!"

"Slow."

Acid Ace suddenly delivered several shots at Blood Shadow followed by a blur of fists for some seconds and a kick to the lower jaw: Blood Shadow groaned and stepped back while he tried to grasp what had happened right there.

"This thing…! It slows me down!" Blood Shadow realized.

"Yeah… Another of my new tricks, too…"

"Che! We'll have to update the whole database at this rate!"

"So, is Mars Warrior gonna show up around here?"

"Maybe so!"

"It's strange to see you in a bad mood."

"Well! One gets moody during a battle."

"I'd rather say that's a bad habit picked from War Rock." Acid Ace looked amused.

"Yeah… More or less…"

"Let's continue."

"Let's end this! Muramasa Blade~!"

"What!"

The cursed blade shone with its menacing purple tint: Blood Shadow leapt across the air and hit Acid Ace with it thus inflicting heavy damage to him: he didn't stop there and brought out a Giga Card.

"Darkness Hole!"

"What!"

A purple "portal" with a scary "face" drawn inside of it showed up and quickly sucked up what was left of Acid Ace's HP: he groaned and collapsed into the ground while Blood Shadow dropped into his knees while panting.

"Huh… Gave me trouble, too… Guess I gotta be ready for new possibilities in battle…"

"So… What are you gonna do about King?" Acid Ace asked as he somehow managed to stand on his fours.

"Huh? What? Ah… Boss is working on draining his funds and placing them into the right places, so… He'll soon end up being harmless." Blood Shadow looked up.

"Come at full power!"

Sigma ran into the area while looking like he'd been in a hard battle: his sword was filled with hit marks and so was his body.

"Ms. Singer gave you a beating up, Sigma? I did tell you it's bad to look down on girls."

"Man. I knew that, _aibou_, but… I thought that at such age…"

"At "such age"… Look at me before anything, will ya?"

"Sorry. I didn't take it seriously enough".

"So you're Sigma… And you're at the same level? You look more like a Wizard to me."

"Yeah! I'm a new-gen Wizard. Boss is a genius, ya see."

"Is "Boss" that "Zataki Tosho" guy?"

"Huh… Dunno, really. He didn't tell us his name. He just told us "call me "Boss" and we're at peace"…" Sigma muttered.

"Cautious guy, huh…"

"Well then, Akatsuki – san… Tell Misora – chan I'm sorry for the rough behavior _aibou_ displayed… I'll come at her singing stage in Okudama Studios tomorrow morning… Let's go, Sigma…"

"O. K., DSSRM." Sigma chuckled.

"Man! That title was way too long so Boss' right hand man suggested "Blood Shadow" instead!" Blood Shadow groaned.

"DSSRM?"

"_Dark Shooting Star Rock Man_… Ain't that kilometric?" Blood Shadow clarified.

"Whoa. Sure it is… "Blood Shadow" is cool enough." Acid Ace formed a smile.

"This guy could take in some of Mars Warrior – sama's humor, I'd rather say…" Sigma looked amused.

"Yeah, yeah… It's contagious, really. Let's go back. See ya, Officer Akatsuki – sama~!"

Blood grabbed Sigma's right forearm and both came out of the "Cybernetics" while that cavalry troops recording played again as if to signal their rushed exit.

"Make way to the 7th Cavalry Troop!"

"Make way to the Sheriff's buddies!"

"Heh… Those guys are funny…" Acid Ace muttered.

"I don't see the "fun" on it, Shidou."

"That's because you're not designed to catch humor… Let's get outta here already."

"Roger."

Acid Ace came out of the Main Computer and cancelled his Denpa – Henkan: he spotted Misora being carried out of the room by Hoshikawa Daigo so he frowned.

"What happened to her?" He asked Dr. Yoiri.

"She was exhausted! She needs rest for some hours. I think she hasn't been sleeping enough as of late, too." She replied.

"Did you see what happened?"

"Of course! We recorded it all… Daigo – san didn't look surprised but he seems to want to look strong… I don't know what he must be feeling right now, but… Amachi – san was distraught over it." Dr. Yoiri sighed.

"Yet… Something reeks." Acid muttered.

"Nothing reeks. It all makes perfect sense. Anyone could've end up like him given the circumstances." Shidou shrugged.

"But maybe he's going to return out of his will once he feels strong enough?" Dr. Yoiri suggested.

"That'd make sense. He's most likely now obsessed with finishing mastering this power to then be able to switch between it and War Rock's anytime to prevent such a crisis from happening again. We should try to look up that "Zataki Tosho" guy: I'm now convinced he exists and that he's behind Subaru's new powers." Shidou suggested back.

"Roger."

Shidou headed out of the room and failed to notice a silhouette looking into the room from inside of an AC duct: it chuckled under its breath and sounded amused.

_Heh, heh, heh. All's going according to the plan… Boss is a genius, yessir, and you'll soon see why… Heh, heh, heh…_


	9. Chapter 8: Harp Note Vs Blood Shadow

**Chapter 8: Harp Note VS Blood Shadow**

09:55 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 27th…

"… Are you really alright?"

"I'm alright. So, what happened yesterday?"

"Have a look."

"Is that…?"

"Yeah. Listen up."

Shidou was speaking with Misora and Harp the next morning: he showed them a holographic display of what had transcended yesterday and she listened up.

"… Poor Subaru – kun… He lost hope on everything and got obsessed over gaining power to defend himself without War Rock and fight back… If only we'd thought of that…" Misora muttered.

"Yeah… But we were way too relaxed and forgot about that man…" Harp muttered.

"You heard him: it's possible that he'll show up today specifically to battle you, so… He might hold back on you, but given how you forced him to battle you back when you were protecting the Bermuda Labyrinth… I don't know if he'll really dare to go all out or not."

"I don't mind if he holds back. That'll prove he still retains his old feelings and personality."

"Fine. Maybe he'll let out more details because he may believe you're his best confident at the moment."

"… We got a message from Okudama Studios… Someone appeared on the singing Real Wave stage and seems to be waiting for something. I'd rather say it's our subject." One operator reported.

"I'll be going."

"Be careful."

10:14 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Subaru – kun? Where are you? Please come out."

"So. You came, Misora – chan…"

Blood Shadow dropped down from above the stage and landed in front of Harp Note: something about him gave off a vibe and Harp Note frowned for a second before shrugging it off.

"Why do you need to avoid us?" Harp Note asked.

"It's necessary. I can't risk you guys' safety." He sighed.

"Our safety?"

"King isn't the real culprit at work."

"What?"

"King _did_ organize the kidnapping, but… He's working for someone."

"I find it weird that King would work with someone."

"Ain't it? But this person has a lot of power and King didn't have a choice because it knew where his money was at and could take it for itself: King is obsessed with his black budget, so he grudgingly accepted. He's to be a scapegoat in this affair." Blood Shadow explained.

"And who is the real culprit, then?"

"All I know is that they go by the name "IQ" but I dunno their gender, age, nationality or current location."

"IQ? Sounds pretty vague…"

"I know, but Boss said that sometimes it's good to know little. If you know only info which is "gossip-level" then they don't bother about you. Gossips are always showing up and no-one minds them unless they are really compromising but these ones aren't. "IQ" controls several organized crime bands all across Japan through fear, blackmail, extortion and murder."

"Huh! And what's that criminal aiming for, then?"

"It's a terrific sadist, or so I've been told. I'm not privy to details, but they wanted to psychologically break me down at first and then torture me for the fun of it before ruthlessly murdering me in a slow and painful manner to complete their evil goals..." Blood Shadow sounded afraid.

"Kami – sama!"

"But that sadist wouldn't have enough with just me. It was hoping for you, Misora – chan, to step into a trap and end up suffering the same fate as me…"

"If they wanted to, then why haven't they acted yet?"

"That's because they were expecting you to try to play Ms. Heroine and charge into a trap sprung by a fake lead regarding my location… It failed because you were rational and let the Satella Police tackle the question while you tried to get as little involved as possible mainly because you had other obligations to attend to, Misora – chan. Thus, the criminal has backed off largely given the "boring" status quo of things. Yet, it's still waiting for a slip on your part."

"I see… So, you're suggesting that I should keep as I was and try not to get involved too much?" Harp Note summarized.

"Correct… Look: try to stay with Harp the most you can. And maybe you could request some self-defense stuff from Akatsuki – san like a tear gas capsule or something like that… It would go good."

"So, what are you going to do regarding that "IQ" criminal?"

"Boss is working on something, but he's entirely hush-hush. I haven't got the slightest idea of the _how_ or _when_. It'd seem he's "supposed" to be working for them but hates them with a passion. He's tired of being treated like a puppet and sick of its tyrant-like behavior. Thus, I believe he wants to find a way to hit them hard and let the authorities round them up as well."

"That sounds fine… So… Should we go down to the battle?"

"If you want to… I'll try not to go overboard."

"Wave Battle, Ride On!"

"Let's go!"

Blood Shadow drew his loaded up shotgun and aimed for the ground but Harp Note had already jumped into the air and she shot some strings which coiled around the shotgun and made it aim for the air: the shot's recoil had Blood Shadow land on the ground and he then was hit by Harp Note's heart-shaped musical attack: he groaned and managed to cut through the wires with a Sword Fighter X Battle Card.

"Uh-oh. I tried to play safe and I got into trouble… Not a good way to start my day, really…" He muttered.

"I won't be holding back." Harp Note giggled.

"Guess so… Well… Please don't think badly of me if I go a bit overboard."

"I won't."

"Eh… O. K… Then… Dark Axe!"

Blood Shadow drew the Battle Card and tried to hit Harp Note only to be repelled by the Super Barrier Battle Card: he stepped back and then used his shotgun to blow the Super Barrier up: Harp Note giggled and then blew him a provoking kiss: Blood Shadow seemed to get nervous and suddenly looked behind him to see a Breaker Count Bomb on the field: Harp Note suddenly turned on an Invisible Battle Card as Blood Shadow began to shoot a string of attacks the Bomb: it detonated and explosion swept through the field thus inflicting large damage to him.

"Grah… I'm at 200 HP and I haven't even wounded her… Man… I'm so unlucky, it'd seem… And something tells me you copied that of the kiss from a movie, Misora – chan…" He groaned as he somehow managed to stand up.

"Sorry. But I wanted to test your reaction speed. It'd seem it's lower than the usual one."

"Yeah… I still have to get used to my new form because it cuts down my usual speed by 10% just to provide additional defense and attack…"

"Oh. I see."

"But you triggered my Special Ability… I heal 5 HP per second. And I'm gonna be using this: Recovery 300!"

"Tee, heh, heh! Let's go~!"

"Fine!"

Blood Shadow loaded up energy and shot it towards one of Harp Note's speakers: she then brought out a Death Scythe X Battle Card which hit Blood Shadow when he was going to attack thus scoring a Counter Hit: Harp Note then used the Heat Upper X Battle Card as a tie-in: Blood Shadow groaned and recoiled.

"Crap. I really need to work out this form or else…" He muttered.

"… Say, Subaru – kun… Do you feel more powerful by now or do you feel like you always were?" Harp Note asked.

"Huh… Hard question, really… I'd have to compare, but… I feel like I've gotten rather rusted as of late… I barely managed to cut it with Akatsuki – san yesterday… And Burai won me by a large margin, too…"

"Hmmm… Something about you feels wrong." She suddenly frowned.

"Wrong or different?"

"Hmmm… Do you think that kiss was out of character?"

"I dunno, really… You were always the timid type."

"Well. I've now gotten a more "tomboy" personality."

"Guess it suits you…"

"So, is that "Boss" person kind with you?"

"Of course… I didn't save the world thrice in vain, ya know…"

"Where did you pick that Kansai dialect?"

"A series I'm watching… It sounded rather cool, so I decided to give it out a try, but guess it doesn't really suit me…"

"Oh. Denpa Mysteries Season II, then?"

"Yeah. That's the series."

"… Gotcha."

"Gotcha… What?"

"There's no such series." Harp Note let out.

"What?" Blood Shadow gasped.

"Are you really Subaru – kun?" She questioned.

"Of course I am!"

"What proof can you offer us?"

"Huh? Proof? My face isn't enough?" He wondered.

"No. Can't you give us something like hair for DNA testing?"

"Well… Why not… I'll make sure to send it to you after I go back to our HQ and I can take this form off." He shrugged.

"Can't you do that here?"

"Aren't we in the middle of a battle?" He pointed out.

"It's a pause."

"Well. Sorry, but I don't feel safe without this form on."

"Or, rather, the armor is integrated within your body?"

"No. But I requested Boss to lock it so that it can't go off by accident and no villain can try to shut it down without knowing the password."

"The Subaru – kun I know wouldn't just do this for power."

"It's not for "power"! It's to be safe from that villain!"

"How can we know it exists?" She pointed out.

"Tell Akatsuki – san to investigate the "Murky Lace" business… Its head has heard plenty about it!"

"Fine. Let's continue."

"Alright."

"But! I've got new tricks. Elec Sword!"

"That's…" Blood Shadow began.

Harp Note suddenly struck his neck with the side of the Elec Sword and a powerful electrical current travelled through his body: he then ended up paralyzed and seemingly unable to move.

"I won't be satisfied like this, so…" She muttered.

She began to tug at the helmet and it came off to reveal his face, hair, and red/golden eyes: she calmly picked some strands of hair and then placed the helmet back on its place as she quickly jumped into the air, flew past him, and landed on the upper portion of the stage: she picked an empty water bottle and put the hair strands there to then close it: she left it atop a speaker and then jumped back in front of the opponent.

"Misora – chan…! I was going to give them to you later! There was no need to forcefully take them from me!" Blood Shadow groaned.

"I felt like you wouldn't give them out for some reason or another."

"Jeez."

"Come!"

"Let's finish this! Charged shotgun shot!"

"Mad Vulcan X!"

Both attacks met their targets so both combatants gained some wounds: Blood Shadow then leapt across the air at Harp Note, but she ducked and Blood Shadow was met with a Count Bomb X Battle Card: it exploded and sent him flying to then crash against the farthest wall: he groaned and managed to break free only for his body to start glowing with a pale red halo.

"Crap… The HP alert… I've fallen under the 100 HP mark…!"

"So?" Harp Note challenged.

"… Continuing would be reckless… Look: I don't believe myself to be overwhelmingly powerful anymore… I'm just half-good at most. So, don't expect things like what I did on the past from me anymore… I don't wanna get the credit of everything when you guys are the ones who helped me get that far…" Blood Shadow muttered.

"That sounds logical, yet… Something reeks."

"… Fine. You'll find out thanks to your little idea… I'm off to the HQ before Boss scolds me… Maybe we'll meet again… _Sayounara_."

Blood Shadow stood up and jumped into the air where a purple "portal" had formed: it closed up once he'd entered it and vanished, so Harp Note sighed and then jumped into a nearby Wave Road after picking the bottle.

"Back to WAXA HQ… We need to have these analyzed."

"Leave it to me."

Acid showed up in front of her: Harp Note grinned and handed him the bottle.

"We'll run an analysis ASAP: come to the HQ."

"Roger."

Harp Note dashed across the Wave Roads and then headed for the Cosmo Wave entrance: she stepped into the warp point, but, suddenly, a cylinder of purple energy formed around her and trapped her inside of it: she barely had time to grasp what had happened when purple streaks of electricity came out of its body and hit her.

"Kya~h!" She shrieked in pain.

"N-no good…! T-this device is…!" Harp muttered.

"W-what's going on…?" She gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh…" A manly voice chuckled.

The cylinder suddenly was warped away…

11:03 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Boss… Am I really this useless?"

"No, Blood, no… You're just getting used to battling. I tried to rush it way too much. You weren't ready for such skilled opponents. You've barely begun building up criteria of your own apart from the already established ones… I'm to blame."

Blood Shadow was speaking with "Boss" inside of the basement room: he was saluting and looked concerned while Boss tried to sound like he was comforting him.

"Is that so, sir?"

"Yeah. Now calm down and try to disconnect for a while… I'll be persistent on this: I _am_ to blame. Don't blame yourself: you lacked real experience or proper training."

"Roger, sir…"

"Cheer up! Omega will tell you one of his crazy jokes and you won't be able to resist laughing at it."

"Sir Omega has some weird humor, sir, but I can bear with it, sir…"

"Good… Take a rest."

"Roger, sir."

Blood Shadow turned around and headed out of the room while "Boss" sighed and turned the rotating chair around: the elderly man suddenly showed up onscreen.

"Mr. Sponsor…! We've got trouble."

"What?" He gasped.

"It's about Miss Hibiki…"

"What happened? Wasn't she gonna go to WAXA HQ?"

"True, but…"

"Don't tell me…!" "Boss" gasped.

"Mr. Secretary just showed up on our base… He brought a cylinder containing something and had Miss Hibiki be installed in one of our rooms… He wants to make us see that "something" he's brought over and the face he makes reveals his intentions: he wants to play psychological warfare." The man whispered in a rush.

"No good…! We don't have any other choice but to play along, yet… This looks too ugly."

"Fortunately… It'd seem he will let them go after we've shown "it" to Miss Hibiki… They seemingly want to make WAXA believe we are criminals even though I'm sure he isn't aware of any of the info we've leaked out to WAXA between yesterday and today…!"

"The smug-faced jerk… He'll soon have that smile of his frozen forever when his "world" crumbles into nothingness…! Play along and don't mention my name at all if possible…! I can't risk anything at this stage of the "Scheme"…! Make sure to check he doesn't know about Lartes' "case" either…!" "Boss" commanded while sounding furious.

"Roger, sir… They'll soon pay for this." The man grumbled.

"Beware, Mr. D… That man may try to trap you between the wall and the blade, so try to speak as little as possible and play the offended: that's what he wants you to do…" "Boss" told him.

"I understand. We'll be in contact."

The man vanished from the screen and "Boss" brought his fists down into the desk thus sending a cup of coffee flying and hitting the floor: the coffee got scattered around it but the man didn't mind it.

"You lowlifes… Playing with peoples' bonds and emotions…! You lowlifes have no reason to exist…! "IQ", "Secretary"… You lowlifes' arrogance will be the key to you lowlifes' defeat…!" "Boss" hissed.

He sat back on the chair and fumed something under his breath.

_You lowlifes' defeat is just a matter of time…!_


	10. Chapter 9: Dead?

**Chapter 9: Dead…?**

18:58 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 27th…

"… Ugh… My head hurts… Where is this at…?"

"Nagano Prefecture…"

"Who…?"

Misora slowly awakened: she was lying atop a bed and she blinked several times before she tried to focus.

"W-what happened…? Ah! Harp…! Where's Harp?"

"Inside of the Hunter – VG…" A man's voice replied.

Misora gasped and quickly sat up: she looked at her right to see "Mr. D." sitting on a chair nearby and looking uninterested or bored.

"Who are you…? Wait! Do you work for King?"

"… We do." The man replied.

"What do you want to do to me?"

"Show you something."

"What?"

"After that… You will be able to go back."

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

"If you'd follow me…"

"Wait a minute… What's your name?"

"Mr. Denpa."

"Mr. Denpa?"

"Short for "Denpa – Henkan"… My codename…" The man calmly replied without seemingly caring.

"Codename, huh… Whatever."

The man headed for a door and opened it: Misora glanced at him over her right shoulder as she walked out and the man took lead: they walked down a barely lit concrete corridor with several locked doors.

"Is this a prison?"

"No. Bunker… JSDF bunker… Similar to Dealer HQ…" Mr. Denpa calmly replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Ah. Fine."

They headed for a nearby elevator and Mr. Denpa hit the "B2F" button: the elevator climbed down and pinged when it reached the B2F area: both stepped out and walked down a few steps down a corridor: the door at the end slid to the left upon coming closer and revealed a room filled with condensate humidity given its low temperature: a tall cylinder the glass walls of which had condensed was placed at the center of it and had some wires linked to it from above and below: there was a control console placed in front of it.

"What's this place? Do you store chemicals or what?"

"We usually do, yet… That capsule has something special on it."

"Yeah? A new super-weapon to conquer the world…?"

"No. We are not as foolish as Mr. King was."

"A new battle Wizard…?"

"Wrong."

"Fine. Show it to me and let's end this silly story."

"Maybe it won't be so silly once you see it."

"Then it's gotta be something important."

"Of course it is."

Mr. Denpa walked over to the panel and muttered something under his breath before inputting some commands into it: the cylinder hummed and the condensed humidity began to fade.

"Look."

"Kami – sama…! Is that…?"

"Yeah. Correct."

"I-impossible…! Some hours ago…!"

"Plenty of time."

"W-why did you…?"

"Orders."

"King's orders…?"

"Correct."

"H-how could you do that…?"

"Been in a lot of wars. One more doesn't make a difference. That's why they had me do it."

"Y-you…!"

"Curse me all you want: a soldier merely follows orders."

"No…! King wasn't…! It had to be…! That "IQ" villain Akatsuki – san talked about…!"

"Ah… True. Akatsuki Shidou may have heard of _that person_ through Mr. King, but it isn't important… No matter how hard you try, you won't find _that person_…"

"I can't believe it…! That can't be the real one…!"

"It is. Look there."

"B-blood… Bullet wound…!"

"A war veteran's nightmare… 20 minutes of slow agony… _That person_ saw it fitting that it was calling out to you and your "companions" before this one became no more…"

"Y-you people…!"

Misora looked shocked and enraged upon seeing _Subaru's corpse_ placed inside of the capsule: it was standing against a central column and had been stripped of all clothing save for a pair of black boxers: his eyes were closed and he seemed to have bit his lower lip in agony: a bullet wound was visible on the stomach area.

"No…! Subaru – kun…! It's my fault…! I should've believed in you…! You were the real one, after all…!" She cried.

She fell into her knees as her hands leant against the glass of the capsule and suddenly collapsed into the ground while looking seemingly unconscious: some tears had slid down her cheeks.

"… Satisfied?" Mr. Denpa brusquely asked someone out of sight.

"Bravo."

Mr. "Secretary" walked towards him from the left: he looked about a meter and eighty tall.

He wore a tuxedo with a black rose on the right side of it plus black shoes: he was smoking and had a smug smile on his face as he looked at the knocked out Misora.

"It was so delicious… _That person_ missed this kind of thrill."

"Hmpf." Mr. Denpa looked elsewhere.

"Ah… Touched a spot…" Mr. Secretary taunted.

"Of course. So? Is the farce over?"

"My, my! You seem to be in quite the bad mood, Mr. Denpa."

"It's never been my policy to bring harm to minors."

"Really… Well then, one must stain his hands if he wishes to progress in these circles…"

"Mr. Admin would've told me that time ago if it were true."

"Ah… True, true… Anyway… Yeah. Farce's over, so… I'll be heading back to meet _that person_… Goodbye."

19:11 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mr. Sponsor. Coast is clear…"

"What was in that bloody cylinder, anyway?"

"A fake corpse… A mannequin… Shaped after Mr. Hoshikawa…"

"Bloody them!"

Mr. "Sponsor" got another fit of rage once Mr. Denpa reported the news to him with a sigh.

"However… She did get to link this to "IQ", so…"

"Hmpf. Now they'll believe it more, yet… I would've preferred for this not to happen… Bothersome man… Let me guess: he was smoking the whole time and laughing at it like the psycho puppet he is."

"Correct, sir…"

"Anyway… You could take Ms. Hibiki to Shiisaa Island Castle and leave her there for Strong to find. It'll be safer."

"Good idea, sir… Are we making progress over there, though?"

"Yeah. I estimate "IQ" to be brought down in about… one or two months, I'd say…"

"Why the wait, though?"

"I've seen their itineraries… And by then, they'll be in an area where it'll be easy to fake the deliberate power supply failure to natural phenomena… They will most likely have forgotten about this incident by then and their guard will be lowered. I'd love to act sooner, yet… Given this sudden apparition of that man… It'd be dangerous."

"I see… Well, one's wishes not always can be realized ASAP…"

"True. We'll be in contact."

"Roger, sir."

"Boss" sighed and looked tired once he cut off the communication…

19:15 PM (Japan Time)…

"… You look somewhat worried, Albert."

"Ah… Master…"

Albert had been sitting on one of the living room's armchairs and looking out at the still lit ocean with an absent look: Lartes walked in and seemed concerned.

"I've remembered another conversation… And I was arguing with someone over the importance of "bonds"… That person did claim that he hated them with a passion because he was bullied by people who banded together but then were weak when faced alone with him… And I did tell that person someone had helped me see the importance of "bonds" while I, at the beginning, had ditched them because I'd lost my father… What does Master think of it?" Albert detailed.

"Hmmm… It'd seem you used to believe in "bonds" or "Brother Bands" up until recently… Maybe that person was someone who'd suffered bullying for too long and had ended up traumatized over the idea of "banding" so he sought to become independent…" Lartes muttered.

"By the way, Master… Was it my imagination or did the boar scroll's eye shine red one day?"

"What? Shine red? No way…"

"Ah. I thought as much… I was tired from my target practice exercises, too, so… Maybe that was the reason."

"The reason was that ya see me 'round the house too much and flashy manly color gets stuck to yer eyes, Albert – chan!"

Omega suddenly dropped down from the ceiling with a grin in front of Albert: he gasped and looked taken aback by the sudden apparition while Lartes rolled his eyes.

"It m-might be the case, Omega – san…"

"_San wa iranai_!"

"E-even so…"

"O. K. So? Did ya find the stuff?"

"I am afraid not…"

"What… You didn't have the guts to look for it?"

"I am afraid not…"

"He's conscious that it wasn't something totally legal. Really, Omega… Trying to sneak _those magazines_ into his room was not a nice idea at all and won't be: he legally can't see those."

"Aw! Ya guys lack the thrill that comes with life!"

"We don't need that thrill: we're busy enough training and trying to figure out what exactly happened to him."

"Sure, sure… Well then… I'm off."

"Where are you going to?"

"I'm gonna say hi to the new seagull nest."

"Crap."

Omega suddenly ran out and they heard him open and close the front door before several seagulls' shrieks rang out: Lartes fumed while Albert looked totally surprised.

"This is too much, even…" He grimly muttered.

"Yeah… No wonder…"

"What can we do?"

"Bear with it, I'm afraid, until I find a way to switch him off." Lartes told him with a sigh.

"Uh-unh… I understand."

Albert resumed glancing at ocean while Lartes looked about to run out of patience regarding Omega…

19:45 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So? What the heck happened?"

"I d-don't really know… One witness saw a c-cylinder taking t-them away somewhere…"

"Stop making your teeth dance… Point is: someone has taken them away but we couldn't figure out how the trap worked like."

Utagai Shinsuke looked nervous as he spoke with Shidou regarding the earlier events: Cygnus looked slightly annoyed at his manner of speaking but Shidou didn't seem to care.

"Fine. And now we need someone to magically tell us where they ended up at…" Shidou fumed.

"Shidou…" Acid called out.

"What? Queen Tia wants to pester me again?"

"Wrong. It's…"

"No, no. No need to continue… Complains from Gonta?"

"Wrong. It's just that…"

"Tell to Shirogane Luna and to Saishouin Kizamaro that they won't be able to do Denpa – Henakn."

"Shidou! Listen to me and don't guess."

"What?"

"Strong contacted me."

"Well! Tell him he wasn't "strong" enough and that he should train to become a really "strong" bloke." Shidou replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"That wasn't funny."

"It's called "sarcasm", you know."

"It's important."

"Well! What did he want, then?"

"Hibiki Misora appeared on the Shiisaa Island Castle's balcony!"

"What!"

"Oh! Thanks goodness!" Utagai looked relieved.

"A team is heading over there."

"Good. And I won't cut you off anymore, then…"

"We have the hair strands' analysis results…" Dr. Yoiri walked in.

"Oh! So?" Shidou asked.

"Well…" She trailed off.

"What?" Shidou frowned.

"I think it's better if we wait and let that child know, too."

"If you say so…"

"S-something tells me it's a b-bad thing…" Utagai muttered.

"Get serious!" Shidou told him.

"S-sorry…"

"Things look like they'll take another turn of events…"

"You think too much." Shidou shrugged.

"Maybe."

"Ya sound like a lawyer!"

"Not this again…"

"Yeah. Anyway… It'd seem this is way more complicated than we thought given Yoiri – hakase's reaction." Shidou muttered.

"Gives off that feeling, true…" Utagai muttered.

"Maybe we're imaging things." Acid ventured.

"… This is A Team. We're heading over here with a patrol vehicle… Hibiki looks alright and doesn't seem to have any superficial wounds." A female officer reported.

"Thank goodness…" Utagai muttered.

"We can be grateful of it." Cygnus shrugged.

"And grateful that Queen Tia isn't here to pick on me, too…" Shidou sounded sarcastic.

"Shidou… A serious thing has happened yet all you can do is using your sarcasm to shoo it away?" Acid asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Guess so… I actually wish to stumble upon a powerful clue which can lead us to that 'IQ' figure whoever it is… And I'd rather say it's gotta be an old man with lots of money."

"We don't know: it could be a foreigner on his 40s, too."

"No… The older, the wiser or so goes the motto…"

"Well… I'd say the older, the eviler…" Dr. Yoiri muttered.

"Yeah. Something similar to that, really…"

"Maybe Hibiki has gotten a hold of new info which could help us set up a strong front. Yet… Investigations on "Zataki Tosho" are stuck: the man seems to have been a figurehead set up beforehand." Acid reported.

"No… He's fond of cross-dressing." Shidou grinned.

Everyone sighed and rolled their eyes in exasperation while Shidou chuckled and made some silly poses by waving his arms around.

"Cheer up!"

"You're not being convincing enough." Acid told him.

"Stop sounding like a lawyer."

"I don't sound like a lawyer…"

Shidou shrugged and kept on making poses while Acid sighed in defeat…


	11. Chapter 10: Reflections

**Chapter 10: Reflections**

20:33 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday August the 27th…

"… Unh… Where…?"

"WAXA HQ…"

"Akatsuki – san…?"

"Don't force yourself."

Misora awaked and brought a hand to her forehead as if it was aching: she then spotted Shidou sitting on a chair next to her: the place seemed to be an infirmary.

"Uh… My head aches… Ah! The hair strands…! What was the result?"

"I don't know yet: Dr. Yoiri is waiting for you to come and tell us what happened first."

"What happened…? Ah… N-no…! That couldn't be…! No…! It was a dream, it had to!" Misora suddenly looked panicked.

"What?"

"I saw Subaru – kun…!"

"What? That villain got him?"

"T-they'd…!"

"You don't mean…!"

"… They'd killed him!"

"No way…!"

"They had him suffer…! And froze his body inside of a machine…!"

"Those guys…!"

"T-the culprit was "IQ"…! He forced a man named Denpa – Henkan to do it…! Subaru – kun's story was true…! King wasn't the real culprit: he was being used…!"

"I see… However… We should hear to what Dr. Yoiri has to say and then we'll try to find his body… Do you know where the place was at?"

"Nagano Prefecture… JSDF bunker…"

"Good… It should be easy to zero into it. Let's go to the main room."

He helped Misora walk since she was still too distraught to be able to keep her balance properly: they entered the main room and Dr. Yoiri cleared his throat.

"The results of the analysis were determining…" She began.

"So he was my son?" Daigo asked.

"No, sir… That hair… was artificial. It was a recreation. It didn't wield any DNA info."

"Then… A wig…? Blood Shadow is… an imitator?" Daigo gasped.

"Correct. Besides… We took control of one camera in the stage used to monitor environment temperatures… Blood Shadow was portrayed as a mix of cold and heat but the heat levels were way above a Denpa – Henkan human should emit… He most probably is a robot capable of solo Denpa – Henkan and programmed to recreate him."

"Trying to fool us with a sentient robot… What people!"

"Maybe the ones to be fooled… it wasn't us, but, rather, that "IQ" criminal… Maybe it could be made to look as a "revamping" of his design at a superficial glance…" Misora suddenly ventured.

"Oh. That seems more likely…" Daigo muttered.

"Yet… I bring sad news…" Misora began.

"Wait a minute… I think the Nagano Team is contacting me." Shidou cut her.

"Eh? Already?"

"They don't waste a second and they already found the bunker… How's it going?"

"We found "it"… We've tried scanning it but it's not a human body… A mannequin…" One officer reported.

"What's "it", anyway?" Daigo asked.

"Another imitation of Subaru… depicted as a corpse."

"What!" Everyone gasped in horror.

"They wanted to make us believe "IQ" had managed to do it and bring our spirits down for a while before we eventually found out about the faking act… This criminal sure has no sense of morale." Shidou told them.

"They used me…! Like Empty did…!" Misora formed a grimace.

"So… What do we do?" Dr. Yoiri asked.

"Guess we'll have to resume investigations like we were… And wait for something new which can lead us." Shidou sighed in defeat.

"… Then, if Blood Shadow is an imposter… What happened to the real Subaru – kun and why do they have to go to such ends to hide it? I know that this criminal could try to act upon him, but he could try giving us a message like "I'm alright, someone's protecting me"… Something feels suspicious here." Misora brought up.

"You've got a point, _Detective_ Misora." Shidou grinned.

"Akatsuki – san: we're not here to joke."

"Sorry, sorry… Anyway… Turning serious… We should try searching Noise Waves: we might intercept King and have him spit something out or find any info of any suspicious transits."

"Sounds logical enough…" Acid shrugged.

"Then it's decided. We won't give up!"

"We'll find Subaru… no matter what!" Daigo exclaimed.

"That's our goal!"

"For justice!" Everyone exclaimed.

21:08 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Blood! Ya look down."

"… Sigma. Tell me. Am I useful?"

"Huh? What?"

"I asked you if I'm useful."

"Useful…? In what sense…?"

"I deserve to have to drag you along as a babysitter to get me out of pinches?"

"Well… That's…"

"So?"

"D-dunno, really! Ya look like a nice guy to me!"

"I'm not so sure myself…"

Blood Shadow was sitting in a corner of one room in the basement when Sigma stepped in and tried to speak with him: Blood Shadow had removed the shotgun and was looking at his exposed hand without anything covering it.

"I'm just a copy of an already existing person somewhere… A "shadow" which tries to imitate a person with far more experience and courage than me… I try to pose as guy with humor but that humor is just a program… Do I have any real criteria? Or I'm just acting in an automated manner? I'm an android created in the form of a human… I can travel across the world and fight on my own without needing someone to back me up, yet… I got beaten twice and barely managed to score even one victory in these three days ever since I've "existed"…" Blood Shadow muttered.

"Well… That's… hum… But… Boss did say it, didn't he? He rushed it up and didn't have us undergo enough training… He says he's to blame and we're just doing what we can while improvising along the way…"

"True, but… I don't feel satisfied."

"Eh… Maybe you wanna speak with your original and hear his opinion, then…?"

"Guess so… And everyone will find out I'm a fake by now given how Harp Note took those hair strands from me… Really… Falling for such obvious traps… I'm no better than a mass-produced Wizard…"

"Wrong, _aibou_! Ya are way more than that: ya are strong and fast! Faster than me, too!"

"I knew that. But my "heart" has a void on it… A void… Empty… Null… It doesn't hold anything and keeps on growing… At this rate… My "self" will be sucked in, too… And I'll be gone."

"O-oi! Don't be so grim! We've got a life, ya know!"

"Life…? Do androids really have "life"…? Or is that another thing which we try to copy from ones of flesh and blood? Are we going one day to become "vessels" to "immortality" or "eternal youth", even? The panorama isn't very lovely, you see."

"Ah… Eh… Sorry. I don't know what to say. I'm not the type to sit down and think about everything…"

"Of course not… You're hyperactive and always itching for a fight. But at least you don't rip someone's feathers one after the other like Sir Omega does… That's creepy enough. Sigma… Just go. Leave me alone. I need time to think."

"Uh… Good, but… Hey, don't take it too hard, eh? I mean… Don't try to wound yourself or anything like that, either…"

"Don't worry… I'm realistic enough to not do that."

"Good, eh… Good night."

"Good night. Maybe you'll find that rocket-like opponent intriguing to take on, too."

"Huh… G-guess so… Later."

"Later."

Sigma opened a door and stepped through it before closing it: Blood Shadow sighed and then headed out into a stone corridor made of navy blue unpolished bricks and illuminated by fluorescent lights set on the vaults: he headed over to an ajar door and spotted Vadous sitting on his armchair and leaning it backwards: a snore sound was ringing out through the mask.

_Boss can sleep with that thing on? I'm surprised he doesn't get claustrophobia… But I guess air pilots are trained like that… Or maybe he's too tired… There's something I wanna do, though…_

Blood Shadow tiptoed into the room and began to type into the computer: he wrote "HOSHIKAWA SUBARU" onscreen and pressed the "RETURN" key.

"Let's see…"

A photo of Subaru's face showed up onscreen and Blood Shadow removed his helmet as if wanting to compare his face with the photo: he made a grimace and looked annoyed.

_Should've thought it… A complete copy… Expect for the irises' color… Hoshikawa Subaru… What would you think of me? Would you look down on me as a "monster", too, like they did to Burai? Would you scorn me from trying to imitate you? Would everyone despise me for trying to fool them by posing as you? If I could meet you… Then maybe you could help me settle my doubts as a "newborn" and guide my path in life… Where are you now? I'm sure Boss over there has the answer… And that there's gotta be a reason we haven't been allowed to visit the mansion… _

He began typing into the keyboard and brought up live feed from several hidden cameras: he checked Albert's room and spotted his sleeping form as he stuck his head out of the blankets.

_Who's that? One of the inhabitants of the mansion…? Yet… His face gives off a vibe… Something… There's something there…_

He glanced at another screen and spotted Lartes discussing with Omega over something: there was no audio, so he couldn't hear it.

_A man discussing with Sir Omega and that isn't Boss… Hmmm? That man's face…? Why does it look familiar…? Wait a min…_

He glanced at a switched off screen to see his own face's reflection and then glanced back the live feed.

… _The resemblance…! Could this man be a relative of Hoshikawa? Could he answer my questions? I have to find a way to contact him… And I will find it! Maybe he can give me more accurate answers than Hoshikawa could give me… Let's go back already and think about it…_

Blood Shadow switched the system off, picked his helmet, and tiptoed out of the room and into the corridor: he then returned to his earlier spot inside of a storeroom having several boxes full of electronic parts and sat down on a stool while leaving the helmet on the ground.

_I MUST contact that man and speak with him… Boss didn't take it into mind, but… I DO have the ability to "freely think" and such I'm able to question things… I'm sure there's another reason for me to exist apart of being an imitator and a copy of someone…! _

He stepped out of this room and then headed into another one where three cylindrical "capsules" colored metallic brown were set in a 22º angle respect the ground: they all had wires connected to the lower edge of them and linked to control panels in front of each one: the rightmost one was wider and taller than the others.

_That one's Sigma's, Sir Omega's the middle one and mine's the leftmost one… This is where we "sleep" while our systems are scanned for any troubles or flaws… Anyway… I should go and rest: maybe tomorrow will be a better day for me… _

He headed towards his capsule and put his helmet on before opening the curved cover by pushing it up towards the left: he climbed inside and closed it by using a handle built on the inside: he looked out through the small Plexiglas curved window and then sighed as a hum rang out.

_Shutdown initiated… Time to sleep… Tomorrow… I will find some answers no matter what…!_

21:42 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Boss… Boss… Boss!"

"Huh! What, what?"

Vadous was awakened all of a sudden and looked startled before he spotted Omega standing at his side.

"You fell asleep here…" Omega told him.

"Crap… Ouch… My back hurts… The stress and overworking caught up with me, I guess… Aw… You did well… waking me up… Lartes is…?"

"He went to sleep after we had a little row over my jokes… And you should go to your bed, Boss. You did place it there for a reason, didn't you?"

"Of course I did… ouch! But it was accidental…!"

"By the way, Boss… Someone has been looking up stuff using the computer… Hoshikawa's file and the live feed…"

"It wasn't me… And I doubt Sigma, so… Blood did it?"

"I guess what his problem is." Omega pointed out.

"Oh…! True…! He thinks he's not useful enough… It's my blame. I sent him to the battlefield without any real training and he ended up having some bad experiences even if they were nice people… Not like Burai can be called a "nice" person anyway…" Vadous muttered.

"Maybe he's questioning himself. Guys at his age tend to do it very often because they get a broader scope of what happens around them. And he's not like Sigma, a new original idea…"

"Ah…! Being shaped after an existing person must be bothering him… It's sometimes bugged me and Lartes, too, but our cases have several large differences…"

"What do we do?"

"Let's let Lartes talk with him."

"Good idea. He might know how to answer some of his questions and fuel his spirits. He must be feeling totally depressed by now."

"Yeah… It's not easy to cope with the idea that you live to imitate or replace someone, after all… I've always wondered how cinema "stunts" manage to cope with it…"

"Because they like being in "character" and acting like the person they're replacing… It's a thrill to them." Omega told him.

"Oh. True… By the way… Could you check if he's still awake? If not, we postpone it for tomorrow…"

"Sure. Head to the bed, Boss, and try taking that stuff out already. It's not good to sleep with that mask on, anyway."

"Yeah… True…"

Omega stepped out of the room while Vadous pressed the junctions of the helmet and the mask with his fingers: a CLAC sound rang out and slowly took them off to reveal a man's face: he looked on his early 20s, was clean shaven, and his eyes' irises was red.

"Ah…! Feels way more refreshing like this… I should take the helmet off, too, and air my head…" He muttered.

He took off the helmet, too, to reveal jet black messy hair underneath it: he used his right hand to stroke through it and try to keep it down a bit before placing both mask and helmet atop the console and standing up: he began to pace around the console and articulated his arms as if performing gymnastics.

"Blood's already napping so let's solve that tomorrow. I'll keep Albert busy and say Lartes is still napping because he had to work on some hospital paperwork 'till late." Omega suggested as he came in.

"Good. And please try not to tease him so much… He can barely bear with it and I don't need someone else stressing, either."

"I know… Maybe I should be getting serious and try to show him some _kendo_ tricks…"

"Deal. You should go rest, too. Things will be busy in the months to come if we want to be able to stop "IQ" once and for all…"

"Yeah. I know. Maybe we should make some more sorties and claim we're killing our boredom in case the proxies are watching. But I guess "IQ" will be too focused on its "expedition" to ever bother to look up what's going on around Japan, anyway." Omega suggested.

"Good thinking, really! Yeah. That's that one's style… And if we pretend to dance at the tune of their flute, then they'll get confident and deepen into their "fantasy" that they're in control of everything."

"I'm going to hit the capsule. Good night, Boss."

"Good night, Omega."

"Oh! And beware of random emails from my cleverness: they might be too much of a troll." Omega teased with a grin.

"What are you plotting this time around?"

"Dunno! Maybe filling the application for Dragon Hell to show up on the Guinness Book of Records 2204…?"

"No way…! That'd fuel his weird ideas…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe so… Now I'm glad I don't need and I can't eat, for once… Heh, heh, heh."

"Dragon… I hope you get serious or else…"

"Kir Osh will have you share a bath with Michelangelo…"

"That isn't funny. Go sleep NOW!"

"O. K. _Danna_."

Omega stepped out while giggling and Vadous seemed to roll his eyes in defeat: he then headed for a bed in one corner of the room and climbed into it: he yawned and stretched.

_Omega… Don't tell Dragon anything or he'll come up with impossible to eat dishes… Anyway… Time to sleep!_


	12. Chapter 11: Flashback

**Chapter 11: Flashback**

07:07 AM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 28th…

"… Gwa~h!"

"What's wrong, Albert?"

"O-Omega – san…!"

"What happened?"

"A d-dragon…! I was fighting a monstrous dragon…!"

"What?"

Albert had let out a yelp of terror as he violently sat up on the bed while looking afraid: Omega had run in, startled, and had crouched next to him while looking surprised.

"Had a tint of purple… Wings… And it seemed to be leaning on the edge of something… A black head formed out of nowhere, too… And there was a glowing yellow spheroid… My body… I could feel power on my body… A black vortex-like phenomenon formed… I jumped forward, and… With some kind of sword… Hit the dragon… It then exploded and… everything suddenly became black…" Albert nervously described.

"Maybe… Those guys forced you to undergo VR training similar to mine because they wanted you to be a fighter?" Omega muttered while seemingly thinking aloud.

"Oh. It makes sense…"

"Relax. That dragon is surely gone by now, so… You're safe here."

"T-thank you, Omega – san."

"But not safe from my trolling…"

"Please…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Later."

"Huh… Later…"

Omega ran out of room while Albert climbed out: he fixed one or two wrinkles on his navy blue pajamas and then slowly lifted the blinders to look outside: a bright sun was illuminating everything.

"So, I was forced to work for bad guys who wanted to use me… I'm glad I'm safe here…" He muttered.

He then headed into an adjacent bathroom and watched his face: he picked a toothbrush, applied tooth-paste to it, and used it to cleanse his teeth: he then headed back into the main room and fixed his bed.

"Good. Let's pick our clothes…"

Albert searched inside of a cupboard and picked a simple white shirt, he picked a pair of brown shorts and a pair of white boxers: he headed into the bathroom and locked the door to emerge clothed a minute later: he neatly folded his pajamas and placed them under the pillow.

"Good. Time to have breakfast…"

"Aie~h!" A shriek rang out.

"Yikes!" He gasped.

Omega suddenly became visible standing behind the window and chuckling: he jumped out of view and Albert sighed.

"Omega – san…! That was not funny…!"

He headed out of the room and climbed down the stairs into the ground floor hall: he headed to the left and opened one of a set of double doors to enter the dining room: a rectangular table had been set along the length of the wall and looked wide enough for four people to use it: there were two chairs set opposite each other and a buffet was already served on the table.

"Huh? Master isn't awake yet?"

"Nope. _Danna_ was working on some hospital paperwork, so he stayed up late… But I'm gonna tell ya something: there's an elixir hidden somewhere in the breakfast…" Omega teased as he showed up behind him.

"E-elixir, you say, sir…?"

"… Kidding."

"Ah…! I thought so…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Call Mr. Universe."

"How, sir?"

"Easy. Pick a seagull and dissect it to find out if it's the "container" for Mr. Universe." Omega grinned.

"That… cannot be… possible…" Albert looked skeptical.

"You sound like a lawyer!"

"I am not, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I like teasin' ya."

"You are terrible, sir!"

"Oho. You haven't seen me rip that _Swan Lake_ wannabe apart feather by feather yet." Omega grinned.

"I do not need to, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Now I'm your C. O., then?"

"It might be the case, sir!"

"That sounds like a lawyer again."

Albert merely sat on the chair and served some coffee powder on a cup before adding the hot milk: Omega chuckled and opened one window to come out: he jumped atop a close by palm tree, and, from there, to the upper floors: Albert rolled his eyes.

"Omega – san has a "cat complex" I am afraid…" He muttered.

He drank the coffee and then began coating one slice of toasted bread with strawberry jam.

"He needs psychoanalysis." Albert concluded.

07:34 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Blood Shadow, right?"

"… Who are you?"

"Call me Lartes."

"Lartes – sama?"

"If you wish to…"

Lartes was speaking with Blood Shadow inside of one of the basement rooms: Blood Shadow lifted his gaze as he sat on a corner of the room and had seemingly been thinking.

"Wait… You live in the mansion along with that young one, right?"

"Correct. Listen, Blood… I know what's troubling you."

"You do, sir?"

"You weren't created to imitate Rock Man, you see. That's just a "role" you've had to do given the circumstances…"

"Then… Why do I look so strikingly similar to him?"

"Well… Remember your original codename?"

"DSSRM… "Dark"…? Oh…! So I'm supposed to be his antithesis, then?"

"Correct. You're just acting like you were a cinema stunt. You're not him: you're someone doing the stunts on his place."

"I see… If I think of it like it, then… It sounds better…"

"And, sorry, but, for the time being, you won't be able to speak with the "original" about it… Maybe if you get to stumble upon the WAXA guys again then you could ask them…" Lartes told him.

"… I understand, sir… But, there's something… Your face…"

"I know: but my case is rather different. It's complicated to explain but I'll try to sum it up one day."

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Feign being Hoshikawa's new revamped design at a superficial look and that you brought upon a foreign country-made Wizard to play a bit of the "rebel teen" around… We're trying to stage an operation but, for it to succeed, we need to protect the real Hoshikawa from harm."

"Roger… But… What will happen to me once this "role" is completed?"

"Nothing. You will be one member of the "Subspace", but that's all."

"… I see. Guess I can't complain, then…" Blood muttered.

"Look: you have the mindset of a 12 year old boy who stars to realize the world is wider than he'd imagine and he's questioning his place or function within it… But don't be worried about it: you belong to here and you're a nice person, too."

"Nice…?"

"You have manners, act in a calm manner, and can decide some things on his own, right?"

"Oh. True…"

"Well then… I hope this settles your doubts. I'd like to speak more with you, but I have to tend to my disciple."

"Disciple…? That other person living in the house…? What's his name?"

"It won't hurt to know… He's an amnesiac boy who showed up at the hospital I was working at whom I renamed Albert… We're trying to keep him safe because he's under the impression some bad guys have tried to force him into doing bad things… But he's very timid, so… For the time being, he doesn't know that this house has a basement to begin with. Like Boss said… You can't come out of it without his permit. Gotcha?"

"Uh-unh… I understand, Lartes – sama…"

"Good… Later."

"Later, sir…"

Lartes came out of the room while Blood Shadow slowly stood up and sat down on top of a crate: he folded his arms and looked at the ground while seemingly thinking.

"So, I don't live just to be a copy… I'm the antithesis… The "Dark Side" of Hoshikawa… Fine… I can cope with playing a "role" like a stunt… Let's go talk with Boss to see what I should do next but he'll most likely arrange for my training to begin." He muttered aloud.

He stepped out and headed into the command room: Vadous was already working on something and looked slightly nervous given sweat drops sliding down his forehead.

"Crap. I lower the guard and this thing suddenly goes outta parameters bringing up Crimson Dragon of all things… Luckily Omega managed to save the day, really… Those memories were too powerful and have been "pushing" their way out since they were close-to-death situations in which the body felt a lot of stress… One doesn't have an easy time forgetting such things, so…" He muttered aloud.

Blood Shadow stepped out and glued his back to the wall at the left while a smug smile formed across his face.

_Oho… I see! How obvious it is, really…! So this is what the plan is about, then? Well then… I won't mind playing the "rebel teen" for a while now that I know where Hoshikawa is at and what's become of him… I won't tell anyone, but I'll drop some very vague hints at our Miss Singer… Heh, heh, heh… I'll be looking forward to a rematch, Harp Note… _

He tiptoed away and closed himself on the storage room while looking totally excited.

"Heh, heh, heh… Ah… Boss… Bad luck can chase one all the way to the end of the world, it'd seem… Heh, heh, heh. This is turning interesting, _very_ interesting indeed, yessir…" He chuckled aloud.

He sat down on the stool while rubbing his hands in excitement and giggling under his breath.

_This is getting amusing!_

08:09 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So?"

"YO, YO, YO! Nothing' 'round the trollin' square!"

"What the heck is that dialect?"

"YO, YO, YO! Wanna hear my 7-hour-long extravaganza?"

"No. I wanna hear if someone suspicious crossed through here. Did that Mars Warrior guy show up here again?"

"YO, YO, YO! No! But I think I saw somethin'…"

"What's that "something", huh?"

Acid Ace was interrogating Moon Disaster while standing in the Cosmo Wave: Acid Ace looked like he was running out of patience to deal with the guy while Moon Disaster kept on behaving like always.

"A gigantic spaceship…! It looked cool! You guys haven't been sitting idle all these years, huh?"

"What spaceship? WAXA never built any. Granted, they directed the "Bonds" mission when they were still named "NAXA", but the space station was stranded by the FM King after the defeat of Andromeda in a safe orbit around Mars. It's just too contaminated with Z – Waves to bring it close to Earth… And it's been gathering up Noise, too, ever since Meteor G shot past that area months ago…" Acid Ace detailed.

"Huh? Weird. I was sure it was a large spaceship!"

"When did you see it?"

"Some hours ago… But I could only see part of it… The other part was invisible… I can't see into IR or X – Ray, so…"

"Maybe you mistook it for the reflection of an orbital satellite."

"Oh. Maybe…"

"Getting back to the earlier talk… So?"

"YO, YO, YO! Nope! No – one came here."

"Hum. Alright… And if someone comes, then…"

"Ga~…!"

"Come back here, you…!"

Laplace flew past both of them and they'd barely had the time to react when Burai ran past them in a blur, too, heading for the Dealer Orbital Base: Acid Ace looked surprised.

"Laplace sabotaged his game data again and wants to make sure Burai remains "on character", then?" He wondered.

"So it'd seem…" Acid calmly muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh… Welcome to my infinitely evil and plotted universe, warrior – sama~!" A voice suddenly rang out through the radio.

"You lowlife… Mars Warrior?" Burai questioned.

"Yessir. I blamed the marquis wannabe guy to draw ya all the way up 'ere… Whaddya think 'bout my nice little redecoration job?"

"Hmpf. You lowlife are no grunt." Burai sounded amused.

"Heh, heh, heh… I'm gonna leak out something for Acid Ace to listen with his acid ears…"

"Very funny." Acid Ace drily muttered.

"Bloody Shadowy and Sigma Ma Man will be showing up later this day on the singing stage to sing "Rock and Battle" in hardcore… Don't forget to line up with the lyrics composer, too… Heh, heh, heh."

"The fooling around stops here. The real fight begins now."

"Heh, heh, heh… Sure thing… I move as fast as light-speed, though. Blink twice, ya lose."

"Brag while you can."

"I'm not bragging."

There was the sound of something hitting the floor followed by a noise made by some device on being powered on: a gun was cocked and some shots rang out while hitting the Mu Rejection: a soft sound followed by a groan of pain and a loud THUD sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang out next.

"Heh, heh, heh. O. K. This guy will be taking a nap for a lil while, so… I'm off to the HQ, Acid Acids of Acid Land."

"That sounds sillier than Yoiri – hakase's nicknames…" Acid Ace groaned in annoyance.

"YO, YO, YO! They could be a song's name!"

"No way…!"

Something even faster than Burai ran past them in a barely visible reddish blur and Acid Ace found a sticker with the words "Acid Disaster" and "Moon Ace" written on them: Acid Ace slapped his face in defeat while Moon Disaster laughed at it.

"YO, YO, YO! So true!"

"I'm off." Acid Ace sighed.

He ran off while Moon Disaster laughed at the scene: someone then hit him from behind and he fell into the ground: Burai stepped over him and then walked away while rubbing the back of his head.

"I lower the guard and the jerk knocks me out by hitting the rear of my skull with the gun weapon… Man. It aches."

"Da… Yu…!"

"And next time I'm gonna have you spit that data out."

"Ga…!"

Laplace muttered something undecipherable while Burai looked like he was getting annoyed.

_Nobody laughs at my face! Mars Warrior…! I'll remember this!_

08:22 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! I'm back, Boss."

"What did you do this time?"

"What… No big deal, really."

"That sounds bad."

Omega stepped into the command room and Vadous looked over his right shoulder with a suspicious face.

"I told Acid Ace about the rematch and had Burai take a nap…" Omega shrugged.

"You knocked him out cold from behind? No good… The guy will get pissed off and search both Earth and Heaven to find you…" Vadous sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry! He's gonna find me ready to pull a trick on him somewhere exquisitely remote…" Omega teased.

"Black Hole Server, huh…"

"Yeah… Heh, heh, heh. The Antagonist Brothers' remains might get in the way, though!"

"Very original."

"O. K. I'll leave you to tell Mr. Universe not to ruin the suspense more than it has already been ruined by the ugly dragon's recycled appearance… Heh, heh, heh. I'm off to tree-bouncing. Later!"

Omega ran off as Vadous was about to say something: he dropped his right arms and sighed in defeat.

"That guy… He's gonna get into trouble with Burai… The purple jerk is fast to hold a grudge… If only you'd bothered to properly battle him… Well… What's done is done… Let's see what'll happen."

_Maybe this time Blood and Sigma will perform well in tag-teamwork and gain a powerful morale boost…_


	13. Chapter 12: Rematch!

**Chapter 12: Rematch!**

12:08 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 28th…

"… Master…"

"What's up, Albert? You look worried."

"I envisioned another horrific thing…"

"Another VR monster…?"

"I think so, sir…"

"Sit down and tell me."

"Roger, sir."

Albert sat down on one of the living room's sofas and sighed before he lifted his gaze and seemed to be thinking how to start.

"It was a stone behemoth-like monster… It's hard to describe it, but it had a mainly bulky pyramidal body made of worn out bluish stone… A large slab with a glyph was set on the middle, it had two hands connected to the shoulders by yellow rings of energy and the face had curved shades with two purple eyes… It didn't have expressions, either, but it was terrific enough… I envisioned myself attacking the slab until it exploded and purple flames engulfed its mass: a dinosaur skull-like object could be seen inside of its "core"… Some enemies flooded the field and the monster had almost unpredictable attacks like using the hands, machineguns and drill arms… Once it was defeated, though, the main mass was still standing with a lot of damage but ready to go for more, too… I suddenly felt like I was about to finish it off and the attack drained all of my energy… I blacked out afterwards…" Albert described.

"Hmmm… Maybe they were forcing you to test a system to imitate a Battle Wizard and wanted to push it to the limit, hence why you felt like the "finishing blow" was too much to handle… It helps to reinforce our theory regarding your past, Albert."

"So it'd seem, sir…"

"Welcome to my infinitely twisted and evil universe!" A familiar voice rang out through a speaker.

"Do we have speakers…?" Albert frowned.

"Omega! This is serious talk so stop trolling us: go come up with a freak monster to take down in the VR Room!"

"'Kay, Doc. I'll tell it that ya decided it didn't meet the qualifications, so it's so fired that it caught fire." Omega laughed.

"Very funny." Lartes drily grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh… Yo! Albert! Be glad, man! I found ya a fan-girl!"

"T-that cannot be…!" Albert looked horrified.

"Kidding…"

"Omega – san…!" Albert groaned.

"Heh, heh, heh. Wanna rumble and shake to the pace of _Omega's Crazy Local March_?"

"Stop making up kilometric names and bust a monster."

"O. K., Dr. Who."

"Stop using those old names you found out digging somewhere."

"Heh, heh, heh. One day I'm gonna find the entrance to the Horus' Chamber inside of the Great Pyramid… And I'll become more famous than the Satella Police."

"Sure, sure." Lartes muttered with obvious skepticism.

"Oho. Mr. Universe came, so… We're gonna have a chit-chat about how to pick a wife for Albert."

"T-that is not possible…!" Albert slapped his face in exasperation.

"Heh, heh, heh… Today's rounds are all mine!"

"This guy…" Lartes fumed.

12:18 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! Am I clear enough? Don't hold back, but don't try to overdo it, either. Remember to play along the "scenario", too."

"Roger."

"Roger, _Danna_."

Vadous was speaking with Sigma and Blood Shadow inside of the basement room containing the portal-generating machine: he seemed to be giving out final instructions.

"Sigma. Don't try to make a mess out of the stage, either."

"Don't worry, _Danna_!" Sigma grinned.

"That face doesn't look very believable." Blood Shadow drily told him.

"What the… Ya are so stiff from time to time."

"It's not being "stiff," Sigma. It's being "serious", just that you know."

"Don't start fighting each other, either." Vadous sighed.

"That won't happen." Sigma quickly replied.

"There's a possibility."

"A possibility Harp Note will give ya an autograph, ya mean?"

"No. A possibility of Boss' scenario taking place, I meant."

"Heh, heh, heh. Almost got ya, huh?"

"No. Move it."

"Sure, Movement Man."

"Enough! Get into the machine and carry out the mission!" Vadous exclaimed while sounding like he'd run out of patience.

"Roger!"

"Go!"

12:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… We were told to wait here… They must be about to come."

"What do we do regarding Blood Shadow, though?"

"Let's play along for the time being."

"Roger."

Acid Ace and Harp Note were standing in the singing stage while looking ready for a fight: Acid Ace was calm while Harp Note looked like she had her doubts about something.

"Heh, heh, heh… Come at full power!"

"Cool it down."

Sigma and Blood Shadow suddenly jumped into the stage from behind it: Sigma looked cocky while Blood Shadow sounded dry.

"So! You came to play again." Acid Ace announced.

"I guess you like toying with people, after all, Subaru – kun."

"Yeah… Guess so… I can't seem to be able to let go of this "thrill" for some reason or another."

"Heh, heh, heh. Super Hero – sama will be get busted!"

"I wonder about that."

"No wonder no wanderer! Bwah, hah, hah, ha~h!" Sigma suddenly made up a rhyme.

"Very intelligent." Blood Shadow drily muttered.

"Yeah. You can see how big his brain is by that." Harp Note drily muttered aloud.

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's bring the Persian rug to decorate things and hope no – one tries to steal it!" Sigma laughed.

"Come!" Acid Ace challenged.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Come at full power! Let's go~! Demon Rings!"

"What!"

"Mad Vulcan X!"

"Shuri Shuriken X!"

Sigma extended his left hand and began to shoot four pale blue rings of energy as a tall as his body towards Acid Ace: they formed a pattern by having the first one stay low, the second one be slightly higher than the first one and so on: Acid Ace used his jets to float through them and managed to escape unscratched.

"Phew. That was close."

"Heh, heh, heh. Wander, wanderer, 'long road sans end!" Sigma suddenly made up another rhyme.

Blood Shadow had begun his moves with a barrage of quick-paced shots but Harp Note ducked and shot the _shuriken_ at him: Blood Shadow gasped and dodged at the last second.

"Huh… Fast…" He muttered.

"Let's go!"

Harp Note shot the string from her guitar and hit Blood Shadow: however, a small enemy appeared on his place as he leapt forward and delivered three consecutive hits to her stomach area: he then leapt back at his place and sighed in relief while Harp Note didn't seem to mind the attack.

"Trap, smells to trap…" Blood Shadow muttered.

"Catching up?" She grinned.

"It's not a bomb or a mine this time around…"

"Bravo." She made some sarcastic clapping.

"So, what's the trap?"

"Ms. Trap dates Mr. Trap."

"W-what?"

"Kidding."

"That sounds worse than Mars Warrior – sama's impossible humor which drives Boss up the walls…" Blood Shadow grimly muttered.

"Maybe it's about to rain?" Harp Note suddenly suggested.

"Rain…? The weather forecast didn't…"

"Area Eater! Zetsumetsu Meteor!"

"No way!"

Harp Note suddenly warped close to Blood Shadow and began to make incandescent meteors rain down on the field: Blood Shadow brought up the default shield but wasn't able to block some of them thus getting some damage: he muttered something under his breath and suddenly aimed his shotgun at ground in front of Harp Note's feet.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The blast made part of the ground jump off: Harp Note switched to defending while Blood Shadow used his gun's recoil to jump out of the bombardment and atop the stage's structure: he sighed in relief and then looked for a moment at the left.

"Nyah, hah, hah, ha~h! Crushing crush!"

"Grah! This guy is immune to pain or what?"

Acid Ace was having a hard time dodging Sigma's next technique: he was warping around the area and dropping down from above with his sword parallel to the sides of the stage: the hit caused a shockwave which spread down that row and Acid Ace tried to counter: none of his attacks seemed to have any effect on the black giant.

"My body armor is very thick! Ya need a bazooka to actually harm me, so go steal one from Area 66!" Sigma laughed.

"Yeah, yeah… I get the irony."

"O. K. _Aibou_ is in his "world", so… Let's keep on, shall we?"

"Fine. Hammer Weapon X!"

Harp Note suddenly hit the ground with it: the metallic structure supporting the stage lights vibrated in a wild manner and Blood Shadow lost his balance: he crashed down atop one of the speakers and damaged it thus making it lose the "real" shape and turn into data: Blood Shadow groaned and tried to break free: Harp Note was already dashing towards him using a Jet Attack X Battle Card.

"Jet Attack X!"

"Come…!" Blood Shadow muttered under his breath.

Harp Note began to close in but she suddenly spotted the shotgun aiming for the crow-like Virus.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The blast blew it up and Harp Note violently crashed into the ground: she quickly stood up while rubbing her damaged parts and tried to hit Blood Shadow with another Hammer Weapon X: he suddenly warped and Harp Note ended up destroying the speaker: Blood Shadow showed up behind her with a broad grin on his face.

"My bad. Destroy Upper!"

Blood delivered a rising attack to Harp Note's jaw after she'd turned around: the inertia made her hit the back of the stage and damage part of it: she groaned and managed to break free only to signal the sky: a Heavy Down X formed there and fell towards Blood Shadow, who jumped out of the way just in time: Harp Note, however, was already in front of him and she used her guitar to hit his stomach area: Blood Shadow was forced upon the spectator area and groaned as he tried to stand up and ignore his aching parts.

"Crap. Gotta improve or else…!" He muttered.

"… Else wandering wanderer of wander will come for your hair, ya know the motto!"Sigma laughed.

"Radar Missile!"

Acid Ace made three missiles converge on Sigma but they bounced off an octagonal-like rainbow-colored barrier: Sigma chuckled and warped only to appeared right in front of Acid Ace and loom over him: Acid Ace seemed to lose confidence, for once, and he stepped back.

"Who says ya need power to win? My looks can make the ugliest of Hollywood's horror department films seem beautiful in comparison! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!" He laughed.

"Maybe I've gotta agree on this one…" Acid Ace muttered.

"Oho. Mr. Universe just contacted me: Moon Disaster has begun "Acid Ace – sama's Fan Club" right now and ya already have 200 followers who wanna guess you civilian ID! The most voted option is: Clark Kent XII with 69% of the votes!" Sigma suddenly told him.

"Clark Kent XII…? Oi! Wait! Wasn't that Clark Kent guy Superman's civilian ID…? Hah. I get the joke." Acid Ace looked amused.

"That sounds like a lame rip-off." Blood Shadow drily muttered.

"I totally agree. Men have strange humor." Harp Note drily muttered.

"WHAT DID YA SAY?" Both suddenly asked.

"Nothing." The other two replied.

"Heh, heh, heh… Not bad…" A voice rang out through both Sigma's and Blood Shadow's radios.

"Mars Warrior… What are you guys up to this time around?" Acid Ace questioned.

"Maybe I'm picking off each feather Cygnus Wing has before going for the beat-'em-up part…" He trailed off in purpose.

"Huh. That's gotta be painful." Acid Ace muttered.

"Are you a sadist or what?" Harp Note questioned.

"No… I just get obsessed with battling."

"So, what's the plan?" Acid Ace questioned.

"Hmmm… I don't wanna say anything specific yet, but… It might take a "while" to end this. And, by a "while", I mean as much as one month or two because we've got just one chance to pull this off."

"Why don't you let the real Subaru at least send a message to his parents telling me he's alright and such?"

"Ah… True. Good point…" He suddenly sounded nervous.

"Or is there a reason why he can't?" Harp Note suspiciously questioned.

"No, none at all…! Eh… You two! Wrap up."

"Roger!"

"Hurricane Dance!"

"Shock Strings!"

"Spin Attack!"

"Giza Wheel X!"

Blood Shadow tried to pull Harp Note closer to attack her but she countered with her strings which coiled around his right leg and electrified him thus cancelling his attack: Acid Ace's attack bounced off Sigma's upper torso and he suddenly spun around his axis while wielding the sword: Acid Ace was propelled towards the rear of the stage and crashed upon it thus breaking it down into data, too.

"Grah… What a blow!" He cursed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Beware of hysterical fan-girls! _Bye – bye_!"

Sigma jumped into the air and vanished inside of the purple portal while Blood Shadow and Harp Note were now having a deadlock by clashing Sword Fighter X Battle Cards against each other.

"Sorry for this."

"Can't be helped, it'd seem."

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Super Barrier!"

The shot bounced off and hit Blood Shadow instead while pushing him back at the same time: he groaned but managed to stand up as some black spots suddenly formed over his wounds.

"My auto-repair nanomachines will take care of these… Well then. We'll meet again soon enough. Later."

"Later. And beware of my secret tricks next time, too."

"Uh-unh… Guess so…"

Blood Shadow jumped into the air and entered the portal to leave as well: both Acid Ace and Harp Note sighed in relief.

"He's still holding back on me… Or maybe he doesn't have as much experience as we'd thought…" Harp Note muttered.

"You're so lucky…! I now prefer Joker to that guy." Acid Ace grimly muttered.

"No wonder, Akatsuki – san… But I'm still concerned over why Subaru – kun hasn't tried contacting us yet… And Mars Warrior sounded like it was a point they hadn't thought of…" Harp Note muttered.

"Shidou. Mail… From Moon Disaster… He backs Sigma's claims."

"No way…!" Acid Ace groaned.

"Huh. Welcome to the club. I have to deal with my fan-club too and I find overwhelming." Harp Note sarcastically told him.

"Acid! Do something about it!"

"I am not your servant."

Harp Note ignored their discussion and sighed.

_Subaru – kun… What exactly is this "scheme" about…? Why can't you contact us…? I'm worried about this… _


	14. Chapter 13: The conspiracy

**Chapter 13: The conspiracy**

14:44 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 28th…

"… So, there's obviously a conspiracy going on. Harp Note brought up a good point which seemed to catch them off-guard."

"True…"

Shidou, Misora, Dr. Yoiri, Daigo, Utagai and Amachi had reunited around the holographic desk in the WAXA HQ's main room to discuss the recent happenings.

"It sounds like there's something _impeding_ Subaru from contacting us… I wouldn't place much confidence if a message comes because they might have faked it." Daigo replied to Shidou's argument.

"Maybe they really are doing something bad and the reason Subaru – kun can't contact us is because he's isolated somewhere?" Amachi suggested.

"… Wait. I just remember something… Back when I saw that fake body… I collapsed into the ground from the shock, but I was still conscious for another little bit… I heard that old man discussing with someone else: the old man sounded rather annoyed at the whole ordeal while the other man merely laughed at it…" Misora suddenly brought up.

"Hum. Maybe there's a conflict of interests?" Shidou suggested.

"Could be… They could be differing into what methods or goals they're supposed to meet… Someone came up with that farce and forced that Mr. Denpa guy to play along with it… Maybe we should re-consider our current strategies: we should keep on chasing "Zataki Tosho" and I'm sure he'll lead us to an important spot." The Chief decided.

"By the way… I got into contact with someone who's gonna lend us a hand and some resources to look into these matters." Shidou brought up.

"Me." Someone announced.

Cepheus, the FM King, suddenly showed up in the middle of the room, to everyone's surprise.

"FM King!"

"Correct. I heard what happened. I'm willing to cooperate in the search for Subaru: he is, after all, my "Brother"… And I've come up with a bright idea so as to gather a lot of information from several places."

"The Denpa Viruses…?" Harp asked.

"True. I'm coming up with some of them designed to collect data and transport it while escorted by other Viruses: monitor Viruses… It could help gather a level of information higher than what we'd been gathering insofar." Cepheus explained.

"Good! And if those guys use the Wave Roads, then… We could trace their movements. But I don't think them to be so neglecting. The fact that they bother to come up with those "portals" or "gateways" is enough evidence that their "Boss" is a cautious man obsessed with leaving no trails. Yet, I'm sure that "Zataki Tosho" will end up leading us to him. We should try to ask the other Satella Police divisions to help us track him down." Dr. Yoiri exposed.

"Leave that to me." Shidou grinned.

"I shall send a monitor team to search information on this man immediately enough… Remember, Akatsuki: I will contact you through the Hunter – VG." Cepheus announced.

"Roger."

"Take heed."

Cepheus vanished but the earlier defeatist atmosphere had already brightened enough.

"Good! We should start working on a program capable of narrowing down information based on given keywords: it'll speed up the classifying of all gathered data." Amachi suggested.

"Let's go for it!" Shidou rallied.

"YEAH!"

An unidentified figure was looking and hearing into the events from inside of the AC duct: it wore a _ninja_'s black clothes including a balaclava: the eyes were covered by black shades mounted upon some kind of device.

_Heh, heh, heh. If Kuro Kaze could see me, then he'd be boiling with envy since he's still trying to quarrel with Dragon Hell up there on the HQ… Heh, heh, heh… Anyway… Maybe Boss should try to remove any Wave Roads around the Kazimura Mansion… It'd help bring more isolation to it and it's not like we need them to begin with, so…_

The _ninja_ slowly crawled backwards until he came out of the building and into a ledge close to the topmost section of the building: he then placed the cover on its place and jumped into a nearby cliff: he walked towards the sheer stone wall and _passed through it_ to step into a cave: a sack, a bottle of water and some canned food cans were set around the cave: the man seemed to be about a meter and seventy tall.

_My little hideout… Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… Let's report to Boss._

He sat down on the ground while folding his legs and spun a dial placed over his right ear: he then cleared his throat.

"Daratsu to _Ninja_ Club President… Daratsu to _Ninja_ Club President… Do you copy? Over."

"I copy. Over." Vadous replied.

"I have a report: the new sci-fi film will have little charming pets as its main cast. Maybe we need to isolate our drafts to avoid copying." He reported.

"… Roger. Continue on your post."

"Acknowledged."

"Over and out."

"_Batter out_!" Omega suddenly exclaimed.

"Shut up." Vadous growled.

Daratsu sighed and seemed to roll his eyes in defeat…

14:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Strike! You're fired!"

"Stop hijacking the radio."

"Stop hijacking tankers."

"Grjftx! Scram!"

"Scram sarcasm."

"I'm about to get angry."

"Ops. Then I'll go tell Bloody Shadowy to visit Area M."

"Dunno where that place is at but stop trolling around."

"Sure thing, Mr. President of Sinister Land."

"Nya~h!"

Vadous was working with the console and yelling into it given Omega's apparent hijack of the radio channel: he looked about to explode while Omega sounded amused.

"Get lost."

Vadous pressed the "RETURN" key to close down the radio and slapped his face in defeat.

"You really need another mission… Go bust Burai or whatever. Just stop coming up with that crazy humor." Vadous grumbled.

He then began to type into the console and brought up a live satellite view of the Kazimura Mansion: a black hole-like phenomenon suddenly appeared over it and began to suck in the Wave Roads and any Denpa Viruses or Denpa – kuns travelling through it: the black hole disappeared and the Wave Roads became visible for a moment as they re-arranged and changed shape to end up continuing past the Kazimura Mansion area and not coming closer than 600 meters from it.

"Good enough." Vadous looked satisfied.

The console suddenly beeped and a "WARNING" sign appeared onscreen to then give way to what seemed to be a first-person view of someone facing off Andromeda's first form: Vadous gasped and quickly began to type into the console.

"Crap! I knew it… Andromeda showed up, too! Bothersome meddling guy! Bothering me to no end… What a repulsive machine! Luckily enough… We can still make it look like it goes along Omega's "theory" which was a good idea, for once!" Vadous grumbled.

The imagery then showed up how Andromeda morphed into the second form: its attacks began to increase in power, range and speed while the person fighting it seemed to be doing its best to dodge.

"Crap… I can't abort it: it'd be bad… Guess we have to wait until it finishes playing out… Anyway… My little "black hole" sucked up all that data and then relocated it at random around the world… But it firstly wipes out any record of this phenomenon from the sucked up data and makes it look like one or two warps weren't working as they should…" Vadous muttered as he shrugged.

The video of Andromeda ended with Andromeda exploding and the person collapsing into the ground given the angle of the camera: the feed suddenly turned into black and was cut off.

"Phew. There was nothing compromising, anyway… But I'm worried about the leaked Black Hole Server one… _That guy_'s voice was on it… But it didn't seem to trigger anything else… Given how the system works by names rather than by sounds…" Vadous sounded slightly relieved.

"… No way, Sir Omega! That is not possible, sir!"

"Possible, dude… Just do it and you'll have the number one thrill in life a guy at your age can have…"

"No, sir! I am not going to do something which conflicts with my moral subroutines, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. There… Ya sound like a lawyer guy just come out of college with his diploma…"

There was the sound of someone running down the corridor: Blood Shadow suddenly came into the room and shut the door behind him while keeping it closed by leaning his body into it: he looked nervous.

"What's going on, Blood Shadow?" Vadous questioned.

"Boss! Sir Omega wanted me to… to…" He trailed off.

"To what?"

"To sneak into "Area M" and…"

"What's "Area M" to begin with?" Vadous demanded.

"T-the "M" stands for "Misora – chan", so…"

"What? Sneak into her quarters? Has Omega gone nuts or what?"

"That's what I was arguing! I can't do that!"

"Omega~! You pervert! People have the right to privacy!" Vadous roared aloud.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's a joke!"

"It isn't funny!" Vadous growled.

"Well then… I'm off to send Burai flying all the way to Alaska without the need of DHL… Heh, heh, heh. Cut a cutter cat!"

Omega could be heard running off: Vadous fumed while Blood Shadow seemed to sigh in relief.

"That guy, really…! He's too much. First him and then Dragon Hell, the onboard cook… That guy needs to be showered with cold water to snap him outta his "creativity" manias…" Vadous exclaimed.

"Huh… Guess I should be glad I can't eat."

"Yeah. You can be glad of it."

"I'll b-be going to the simulator…"

"Just go."

"R-roger."

"And next time put up a stone face."

"I'll t-try to."

Blood Shadow stepped out while Vadous stood up and nervously paced around the console.

"I'm about to run out of patience and seal him inside of the capsule for some time in switched off mode so that we can have a break… I could always have Lartes cover it like the guy needs some extensive maintenance back at the lab where he was produced at…"

"Bwah, hah, hah, ha~h! You bull wannabe! You're slower than a turtle wannabe and I'm beating ya a thousand times over and over!" Sigma suddenly laughed.

"Another hyperactive guy… Whatever. At least he behaves within parameters… And, from the sounds of it, he's quarreling with Ox Fire by now…"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! The end! Wander in despair and hopelessness! You're - FIRED! Hra~h!"

"Buro~!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Next!"

"Opponent 2 of the S1 Category: Cygnus Wing." An auto-voice announced.

"Heh, heh, heh. Come at full power!"

"Let's leave that guy be… And let's let the Satella Police follow all the leads they wish. Maybe it's about time we clarified things a bit for Albert because I'm sure these scandals are being felt upstairs, too." Vadous decided aloud.

He sat down on the desk and then seemed to be thinking about something: he typed into the console and brought up some information.

"Hmmm… Maybe like this…" He formed a smile.

16:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, we had a dragon, a stone behemoth, and now some kind of gigantic war machine which could transform into a deadlier form out of a compact form?"

"Yes, Master… They seem to match Omega – san's theory… I "spaced out" for about three to four minutes…"

"Hum. Maybe we need to carry out another scan… There might be additional damage which we didn't spot back then."

"So… We would be going to the mainland?"

"Don't worry! Given how there's little staff in summer, no one would complain if I requested 5 minutes to use the resonance device."

"I see, sir."

Lartes and Albert were, as usual, sitting opposite each other in the living room's armchairs: Albert looked worried while Lartes was trying to cheer him up.

"Alright, sir… I'll try to look positive and confident."

"Good. Besides… The whole thing won't even take an hour's time."

"And we will be back quickly enough… Good. But… Maybe those bad guys are expecting this?"

"Hum. Good point. Maybe I could tell Omega to come along and make him pose as a new Wizard 'cause I've got a friend with influences… The usual tale… It'll be convincing."

"Ah. Then I feel more relieved, sir."

"Relax and remember: those guys must believe you to have been sent to some orphanage or another or even taken into adoption… And given how your name would be different, then… There are strict laws on the protection of info which prevent them from looking up whatever they want to… Given how you're a minor of legal age… Then you're protected by those and your info is safely stored."

"I understand, sir… By the way, sir… I once heard the word "Meteor Server" and it bugged me, so I did some research… Apparently, it was inside of the gigantic mass of "Crimson" known as Meteor G… And it was speculated that one could access its powers somehow…"

"Ah. The "Meteor Server", you say… I'd heard about it, too, but I never paid much heed to the details because the idea of a gigantic mass of Crimson which could crash-land and wreck all current technology was enough to keep me awake whole nights… Even though there was a massive filtering in place to prevent mass panic, things get leaked nevertheless." Lartes explained.

"Yet… Was it really WAXA the ones who destroyed it?" Albert asked while sounding curious.

"Yeah. I dunno the details but they seem to have used some sort of secret weapon to detonate it from the inside and render it harmless: most of the Crimson scattered across the Solar System and some auto-probes were damaged to the extent that they had to be replaced… And that didn't stop Crimson from raining down in several spot of the planet thus causing some focuses of trouble. In short: it was far from perfect but at the least the worst-case scenario had been prevented."

"I see, sir… I am sorry if I occupied too much of your time, Master."

"Don't be concerned over that, Albert. You're my disciple. I care for you and I want to help you try to figure out what happened to you. Who knows? Maybe even "Fate" led up to our meeting."

"Oh. It sounds like a possibility, true…"

"… Don't take me seriously. I was trying to come up with an irony… Anyway… Try to have a short rest before we tackle some running around the perimeter."

"Roger, Master. If you'll excuse me…"

"Go."

"Later, sir."

Albert stepped out of the living room and headed upstairs: he suddenly heard a muffled hum sound and looked at the 1st floor hall to see Omega step out of the hidden elevator without spotting Albert: Omega headed into the gym room and closed the door: Albert then tiptoed up to the hall and checked the boar's eye: it was shining with a soft red light.

_I wasn't imaging things, then. There's a basement… And something very important is hidden there. Let's play along for the time being…_

Albert stepped into his room and sat down on his bed while looking thoughtful: he then began to glance around and caught sight of the sunlight making something shine: he crouched and looked at a spot half-way along the height between the ground and the bathroom's doorknob: a small camera's lenses had been placed there.

_Hidden camera… And I'm sure it's not a joke. Recently, I felt like I'm not satisfied about what's going on around me… Have I run out of the frying pan and into the fire? But the info I have is too vague and it has a "censored" vibe to it… Maybe my amnesia is not so much of an accident and everything is carefully calculated to make me believe Dr. Lartes' theory… But I can't be too obvious, either. Let's have patience._

He stood up and sat down on the chair behind his desk: he opened his journal and began checking his annotations.

_Like I thought… Nothing useful. Voices are something, but if I only could see the owners of them… Patience, Albert! A chance will likely appear… Maybe in the hospital… They can't hope to control all which goes on in a hospital, after all!_

Slowly forming a smile, he looked out towards the ocean and seemed to be imaging something good.

_Even a golden cage has its flaws… And I'll keep on playing around as long as I need until I get some answers. I've been neglecting my status for way too long: it's about time I noticed that there's an ongoing conspiracy… I will get to the bottom of this or I'm not named Albert in vain._

He formed an amused smile and giggled under his breath…


	15. Chapter 14: Vadous' Revelation

**Chapter 14: Vadous' Revelation**

08:11 AM (Japan Time), Sunday August the 31st…

"… Good morning, Master."

"Good morning, Albert. I got the results…"

"Was there something unexpected?"

"No. There's nothing strange."

"Ah. Then there is no need to be worried, is there?"

"No. There isn't."

Albert was standing in front of the dining room's table as Lartes looked up from some documents: a brilliant sun came in through the windows and there wasn't a cloud on sight: Omega was, as always, leaping into the palm trees' treetops and scaring the heck outta the seagulls.

"By the way, Albert… I wanted to introduce you to someone."

"Is that so?"

"You see… It's my former university _senpai_, Zataki – senpai. However, he'd like to be address by a nickname he made up: Vadous – senpai. He'll be staying with us now that he's finished his duties and will take a one-month break… He's very good at _kendo_, too, so maybe he'll teach you one or two tricks." Lartes explained with a smile.

_Maybe this "senpai" person is the one pulling the strings…? Let's play the interested for the time being… And something tells me that girl I saw in the hospital… I'd met her before. She looked like a high-class girl given her dress and manner of behaving… Let's settle that for later and focus on meeting this "Vadous – senpai" person._

"It will be an honor, Master."

"Oh. And he also likes being called "Boss" to make it "cooler", so you're invited to using that nickname, too… Ah. He's coming down… Good morning, Boss."

Vadous stepped in while clad in navy blue sleeveless shirt, jeans and sandals: he'd put on contacts to hide his eye color and make it look like it was blue.

"Good morning, Lartes. You're Albert?"

"Yes, sir. I am honored to meet you, sir. Master spoke highly of you, sir."

"It wasn't in vain: that I assure you. Heh, heh, heh."

"Welcome to my infinitely overestimated and underestimated Universe! _Senpai_~!" A familiar voice rang out.

They gasped and looked at the ceiling to see Omega crawling across it like if he was a spider: he suddenly detached and landed behind Albert while leaning his head over his right shoulder: Albert gasped and involuntarily leapt forward while Omega laughed.

"Omega. You haven't changed ever since half a year ago." Vadous told him with an unimpressed look.

"How could I? I'm too dynamic to change!"

"Maybe you mean too "cool" to change?"

"Ah! True, true. I'd mixed up the words, Mr. Universe."

"Very original, really. Lartes. Can't something be done to make him serious already?"

"Believe me, Boss, I've tried."

"No wonder. You look worn out."

"Anyone would be."

"Heh, heh, heh. O. K.! I'm off to prove that the Roswell incident's remains are still being kept in Area 66. See ya!"

Omega ran out through an open window while laughing: everyone sighed in defeat while Vadous and Albert sat down: Albert sat facing Lartes on the left side while Vadous picked the right side: Albert distractedly glanced at the ocean for a few seconds before starting eating the breakfast.

"So, Albert… Any progress?" Lartes asked.

"Huh? Ah! I'm not sure, Master… I heard a name being mentioned but I'm afraid it won't be much of a clue."

"Why?"

"Because "Jack" is a very common foreign name which is used by countless persons in the world, and without any specifics, then we cannot narrow it down, sir."

"True… Are you sure it was a separate person?"

"I am sure, because I was speaking with him over something… And he claimed to have been acting all along… There weren't much details and it was very vague." Albert explained.

"Hum. At least we're making some progress."

"Don't give it up." Vadous encouraged.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"By the way, Lartes… I found something weird on my room which seemed to be a camera…"

"Camera…? Oh. Another of Omega's endless pranks. They're fakes. They don't do anything. They're supposed to scare you off but I don't see the point, really." Lartes sounded annoyed.

_This can't be a coincidence. No. I'm sure the camera I found was real enough and I guess "Boss" was the one seeing its footage. Thus, he's decided to come out and be along with me like trying to make me feel like he can't be doing two things at the same time. Nice move, but I'd already thought of a similar _scenario_..._

"Really… Omega – san is too much sometimes! He keeps on teasing me over things which are unlawful." Albert muttered with a hint of annoyance to his voice.

"No wonder… He's the one acting like an unleashed _onigami_ to begin with, after all!"

"Yeah… He's driving us mad."

"What are your plans for today, Boss?"

"Not much, really… Maybe I'll go to Shiisaa Island and have a little visit to it: I'm curious about if it lives up to its fame or not."

"Fine. We have a busy schedule over here, anyway, so…"

"What should we start with, Master?"

"Target practice would do fine, I believe. But, as always… There's no real rush. Let's take our time powering up and then we'll tackle it."

"Roger, sir."

They ate breakfast in silence while Albert inwardly frowned in a suspicious manner.

_Going to Shiisaa Island…? So, I was right. He can't do everything from the ground floor. I'm sure everything is controlled from the basement and there's gotta be a way to get into there… Omega – san just had his palm read but that may be because he has something there as an android… If I had to guess, then it's gotta work by eye retinal pattern scan… That's impossible to fake. And elevators don't move unless their doors are totally closed, too. The outer wall is wood but the inner wall must be metallic… Maybe by removing one panel… I'll try it one day. _

"… And, really, the director of my department is always bragging off his position but can't answer even the simplest of questions like who discovered the X – rays, where and when. He always says that's "elementary school rubbish" but the hospital director is considering replacing him… He's bringing harm to the reputation of the hospital as a whole." Lartes was telling Vadous.

"Some money over there, an influential person and… zap! You get there without even having cursed medical studies. He's only there to heat chairs and get a high salary…" Vadous shrugged.

_I will not be fooled so easily anymore, Dr. Lartes and Vadous – san… I am not a puppet!_

08:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah…"

"What's up, Luna – chan?"

"… Ah…"

"You keep on sighing the whole time. Are you ill?"

"I am…"

"Then you should've told me! Gonta – kun did pass his illness into you!"

"No! That guy isn't to blame… He only had stomach problems… No… My illness cannot be cured, Mode!"

"What? Cancer…?"

"No, no! _Love_!"

"W-what?"

Shirogane Luna was standing in the balcony of her apartment building and looking out towards the city as she leant her elbows on the handrail and used her hands to lean her head: she looked enthusiast while Mode, her Wizard, looked bewildered.

"I met my ideal match!" She exclaimed.

"Isn't that ripped off the soap opera you saw yesterday?" Mode asked.

"No, no! Fate leaded me!" She insisted.

"So? Who is your chosen one?"

"I do not know his name, but his looks… We merely crossed paths as he headed towards a waiting room… But… One glance from him to me was enough… He captivated me… Ah… Those sapphire blue eyes had a depth to them like I have never seen before… That silver hair was shinier than any diamond on Earth…!" Luna described while dancing around and sounding marveled.

"Uh-oh. Trouble…" Mode muttered.

"I've begun to try to locate him… I told Gonta to ask the Satella Police with some excuse or another… Something like that Gonta found his keys and wanted to try to locate him to give them back… Any story would work… Ah… And then we shall meet… It shall be _marvelous_!" She announced.

"No good…!" Mode grimly muttered.

"Fantastic! Supreme! Magnificent!" Luna uttered in a rush.

"O-oi…!" Mode gasped.

"Ultimate! Perfect! Unbeatable!" Luna kept at it.

"Luna – chan…! Please be serious…!" Mode groaned.

"A bright future…! We shall have a bright future together…! I am so much in love…! There are no words for this…! I should write a piece of theater's script for this…! Oh…! Oh…! What passion! What nerves! What excitement!" Lune kept on daydreaming.

"N-no good…!"

Her Hunter – VG suddenly rang and she eagerly picked it up to see Gonta show up onscreen.

"So! Gonta! What did you find?"

"Not much, _Iinchou_… Almost everyone is busy and it was hard enough to convince Akatsuki – san to lend me a hand on the matter…! He managed to find the guy and his address and then told me to keep it and don't bother him anymore… Guess he'll forget about it…"

"I don't mind! Tell me!"

"Y-yes, ma'am…! Kazimura Albert … 12… Address: Kazimura Island… Legal guardian… Kazimura Lartes – sensei… 22… Not much else… Doesn't say where he lived before or anything else… Kazimura Island is a private property not too far from Shiisaa Island…" Gonta reported.

"Good job!"

"T-thank you, _Iinchou_!"

"Not grab Kizamaro and pull his ears to tell him how you beat that square head of him which only thinks in fame!" She commanded.

"R-roger, ma'am!" Gonta gasped.

"Ho, ho, ho! I'm gonna tell that Pedia guy he's skinnier than the Science Club's model…" Ox suddenly laughed.

"Do tell him from me." Luna made an evil grin.

"P-please! Let's stop this already!" Mode pleaded.

"No way! I'm fueled up!"

"No good!" Mode gasped.

"Move your stomach, Ox Man!"

"R-roger!"

Luna ended the communication and then formed a smug smile: Mode seemed to sigh in defeat.

"Kazimura Albert, then… Heh, heh, heh! Once I feign being interested in making some business with that Dr. Kazimura's hospital, then I'll be able to find out more about him! Tee, heh, heh! I'm a - GENIUS!"

"Yeah… Sure… Don't you care about what happened to you friend?"

"What? Oh. Subaru – kun, you mean? I already know he's trying to play "rebel" on his own, so… No trouble! He won't mind it since he's too _dense_ to spot it to begin with! Ho, ho, ho!"

"Trouble, trouble…" Mode grumbled.

"I'm the queen of everything! Let's go for it! Strategy Catch has started and I guarantee a 100% success rate!"

"I wonder about that, really…"

"I'm a genius!"

Mode sighed in defeat and floated away while Luna kept on giggling, dancing and letting out hysterical yells…

10:19 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Really… That Gonta… Making me waste my time trying to spot anything new on the FM King's "Monitor Viruses" reports to look into a random guy to return the keys to him… Go to the local police for that, will ya?"

"He may have thought it was urgent."

"Yeah. And now ya play devil's advocate."

"No."

"Ya play lawyer wannabe."

"No."

"Shidou – chan, Acid – chan… Please stop there and let's continue the work, shall we?"

Shidou had been grumbling aloud and provoking Acid until Dr. Yoiri called out to them in a resigned tone of voice.

"Sure. There's nothing spectacular, anyway."

"Shidou. Mail. Unknown sender. Subject: he who warns a traitor is not, Clark Kent – sama used to say." Acid reported.

"Who the heck writes such long subjects? Anyway… Read it up for the sake of the narrator."

"What narrator?" Acid asked.

"Dunno. Ask Queen Tia." Shidou shrugged.

"I doubt her knowing it." Acid sounded skeptical.

"Whatever… Bring it up."

"Roger. Text reads following: "an important person is gonna share some of his important mottos with ya guys in about two minutes from now if your clocks are not in the Canarias Islands. If they are, then make it one minute. Point is: Mr. Universe is gonna give out some hints of how things are working out around this recycled super-fortress wannabe. M. W." …"

"Mars Warrior again… He has super weird humor, really." Shidou looked totally unimpressed.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm to blame, really! I should've put some locks into that time ago but I always forget about it…" An unknown manly voice suddenly rang out of nowhere.

"Huh? Who…?"

Everyone's activities ceased as the lighting dimmed and a hologram of Vadous (sporting full body armor, the helmet and the facial protection) showed up from the holographic display table: he had his arms folded and looked in command of everything.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

"So you're the "Boss" those guys were talking about… Zataki Tosho?"

"Correct. But you may call me "Vadous" as well."

"One question: is Subaru alright?" Daigo questioned.

"Please do not be concerned, Hoshikawa – dono. He is in perfect condition and I will swear it upon the Bible if you wish me to."

"No one swears upon the Bible in vain, or so they say…" Queen Tia muttered with a hint of interest.

"What! When did ya…?" Shidou asked.

"30 minutes ago." She calmly replied.

"Didn't see ya!" Shidou gasped.

"You were too busy rambling, Akatsuki." Queen Tia dully told him.

"Crap."

"I warned you." Acid told Shidou.

"Oh. Shut up."

"Oh. Fine. But let me remind you that he who warns a traitor is not, Shidou. You should've seen this coming."

"Ahem, ahem… It's true that you brought up a good point… He is currently unable to contact anyone, but it's for safety reasons… Remember how far that criminal is ready to go to… I believe that disgusting ploy with the fake corpse was proof enough."

"True. And I do remember Mr. King having had discussions with Ms. Heartless over that "IQ" figure, so I'm sure it exists." Queen Tia calmly commented.

"Hum. At least we can ascertain that… So, where are you guys at?"

"I would prefer not to be specific for the time being."

"Is your goal to bring down "IQ", then?"

"Correct. We're waiting for the right moment to strike and we've calculated when that will be. I apologize for the wait, but the longer I wait, the lower the guard around "IQ" will be, so… It will make things easier for us." Vadous replied.

"So, what is Subaru doing right now?"

"He is training in several self-defense skills which would allow him to defend himself were a similar problem to show up… And I'm keeping him safe under my cover. I technically still am an agent of "IQ", but that person is so arrogant that it believes me to be the loyal lapdog ready to obey any commands. My faked reports are not questioned and that person's been led to believe Blood Shadow is the real Rock Man. It believes Sigma to be an extraterrestrial Denpa Body similar to Moon Disaster. It's thinking that he's jumping from place to place to run errands for the FM King, too."

"Hum. That's not very bad. You want to prevent something like that fake corpse thing becoming real, then." Misora commented.

"Correct. My methods may not be perfect, but at least I am able to avoid a greater tragedy from taking place."

"And how is Subaru handling this?" Daigo questioned.

"Coming from him… He's being calm and rational… And I'd say he's also somewhat glad he isn't forced into a battle this time around."

"I'd expect that from him, too… But isn't he anxious about the fact that he's unable to contact anyone?"

"Might be, true… But since he understands the need to keep this façade up, then he's holding back… He has a busy enough _schedule_, anyway."

"Hmmm… The "space ship" Moon Disaster was talking about… Does it have any relation to you?"

"What? Space ship? Hmmm… I'd rather put it to be related to Choina and their hermetic military maneuvers…" Vadous sounded suspicious.

"I'd heard talk about that while in Dealer, too." Queen Tia added.

"You girls really like to eavesdrop, huh?" Shidou looked unimpressed.

"Who knows?" She shot back.

"So, Vadous… Is "Mars Warrior" a real name or not? I'm starting to believe it to be a farce."

"Well… The guy made that nickname on the spot and we kept the farce up a bit to play around, but…"

"My cool and leveled name is Omega, guys. Ya better remember it before the thirty-six bells of doom ring out." Omega suddenly announced off-screen.

"What thirty-six bells of doom?" Vadous sounded puzzled.

"Ask Mr. Universe."

"Stop with that joke already, will you?"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm a genius."

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up already."

"Sure thing, Mr. Potato."

"What the… Get lost!"

"Fine, fine. I'm gonna tell that justice statue wannabe he's fired and sent to the recycle bin."

"Anyway… If you want to try and find me, then go ahead, by all means. But I believe there'll be no complains if I do manage to bring down "IQ" and all of its so-called "empire"… Goodbye."

The transmission suddenly ended but a trumpet rang out and a horde of _zombies_ were displayed over it in a pose which looked like they were about to jump towards the public.

"The Zombie Club announces that the Zombie Curse is in effect: you will receive troll emails during the next 72 hours which will make you laugh to no ends known before. Have a very creepy day!" Omega's pre-recorded voice rang out.

There was a giggle followed by a large growl of clear agony since the line was still partly open.

"OMEGA~!" Vadous roared.

"Ops. Mr. Catastrophe knocks at the backdoor."

"STOP MESSING AROUND AND GO DO SOMETHING USEFUL OR SERIOUS ALREADY~!"

"Sure."

The line was finally disconnected and the lighting returned to normal: everyone sighed in relief and seemed to be alleviated by the fact.

"Really… That Omega guy is enough to drive anyone crazy. No wonder that Vadous guy ended up yelling like that." One officer commented.

"Hmmm…" Shidou looked suspicious.

"What?" Queen Tia asked.

"… Nothing."

"Ah. Fine, then."

Shidou frowned while Daigo seemed to be amused.

_Call me paranoid, but something tells me there's a link between this and something else… Things are getting murkier…!_


	16. Chapter 15: Clues

**Chapter 15: Clues**

09:39 AM (Japan Time), Friday September the 12th…

" … _Boy! You've let me see your battling style… Looks like you've remembered… The way to delete Viruses! Or is that a result of the S3 Scheme…? We were rather surprised when Boss discovered the S3 data from the supercomputer… However, if you think it twice, then it can't be called a bad scheme… Using poison to control poison… It is optimum: using an assassin to defeat SSRM's power… S3 Scheme… Shooting Star Simulation… A training program to artificially invent SSRM, the greatest historical hero… Created through thorough VR Training… A non-existent Special Forces agent… Boy. You've been remade by those guys… As an imitation of SSRM! What a pity, boy. Ending up steeping down into being a tool of the "Conspirators"… However, you let me use you as well. As an unexpected twist to those guys' scheme… Your intrusion, SSRM's appearance… It was obvious that a pawn of the "Conspirators" was slipping within us. Before the strategy entered the final phase we had to hunt out that guy. I used you as bait to do that… Boy. Those every-days spent in that civil-war country were reality… Life, death. Every day you were filled with an overwhelming reality. You who ran from there… Have now returned to a battlefield controlled by fiction… Hmpf. At any rate, the worthless tag games have now ended. There's no meaning to letting you swim any further. I arranged for a decent opponent. Well then… Well. In the end, at least… Die as MY apprentice!"_

Albert spent a while writing everything down while looking rather thoughtful about the experience he'd just had right there and now: he tapped the lower right edge of his desk and looked out towards the skies: he frowned and looked like he was reflecting.

"Let's reflect… Shooting Star Simulation… That's something. And a "simulation" can mean VR, too. That part about "civil-war-country" could mean I was a _child soldier_ shaped by VR… Maybe I got my wounds there and then I was moved to Japan as if to try to make us undergo further training… Could this be the reason behind the secrets surrounding my training here? Are they trying to reinsert me into society?" He wondered.

He glanced towards the right side of the room at the hidden camera and looked unimpressed.

"I'm not sure yet if that camera includes audio or if the microphone is hidden somewhere else… I don't mind if they hear my muttering: maybe this is what they're expecting outta me, after all. Isn't that right, Vadous – san?" Albert spoke aloud.

He then closed his journal and headed downstairs: Omega was finishing setting the table and whistling some melody or another.

"Good morning, Omega – san."

"Yo! Bert. Did Saxby call ya?"

"Do excuse me?"

"Heh, heh, heh. Bert Saxby got fired."

"Eh… I'm afraid I know no "Bert Saxby", Omega – san…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Anyway… You look concerned."

"I might have been a child soldier."

"Huh! Then it's no wonder you have those wounds: terrible things can happen in a war and there have been several civil wars between different regions over resources in the last 20 years or so… In short: that idea of yours doesn't look too far-fetched."

"By the way! The basement must reek of stagnation, isn't that right, Omega – san?"

"What? The basement…? I dunno, 'cause I can't smell. Maybe Boss could tell ya since those two cannot smell either and… Hey!" He began to reply in a distracted manner before gasping.

"So?" Albert challenged.

"Man. You got me." Omega sighed.

"Is this a secret government program to reinsert former child soldiers into society?" Albert questioned.

"… If you wanna think of it like that…" Omega vaguely replied.

"I shall take that as a "correct", then. And Mr. Vadous is the person who directs this from the basement."

"Man. You're starting to sound like Holmes."

"I catch the irony, sir."

"You suddenly turned serious… Or have you been serious for a while already and acting up?"

"Correct."

"Man. I admit my defeat. _Danna_ won't be happy."

"Was there such need for suspense?"

"Don't look at me. I didn't come up with this. I was just tagging along because Boss is my creator, so…"

"Fine. At least I now feel somewhat satisfied. And "those two" are other androids?" Albert deduced.

"Yeah… We recently completed them and have been keeping the Satella Police busy…" Omega admitted.

"So? Why would the very Government want to keep the Satella Police busy? Or is this a secretive black budget project shaped especially for me because my father was someone very important?" Albert questioned next with some suspicion.

"If you wanna think of it like that…"

"I shall assume you mean "right" as well."

"Feel free to shape your own opinion about this."

"Good morning… Did I hear a discussion over here?" Lartes stepped in.

"_Danna_. We've been beaten."

"Huh? What? Wait! Do you mean…? Albert? You've realized something important?"

"I have, Master. I remembered a long conversation which seems to be the basis for my origins: I was forced into being a VR-shaped child soldier somewhere and that must be when I got these wounds. And from what Omega – san slipped out, I've guessed that my father had been someone important since this whole project seems to be centered on me… Am I correct, sir?"

"… Yeah. You really are. We rescued you from those guys because your father was a bright military scientist and they overused his technology to breed "tougher" child soldiers and save up a lot of money on training exercises and field exercises. But we wouldn't let them exploit you or others anymore, so we struck at them but had bad timing since you were in the midst of a VR simulation… The sudden power blackout damaged the system and most of your consciousness barely made it back to your physical body… And most of your memories were lost along the way it'd seem given the sudden explosion of the VR chair you were sitting in: that was when the shrapnel fragment went inside of your brain thus further damaging your mind. Given how all traumatic experiences were gone, then Boss and I decided that you could try to rebuild your life… And that's why we brought you here." Lartes detailed.

"I see… Yet… Why would my memories feel "censored" when I recall them? Isn't that _too_ convenient? Or is there a reason?"

"Well…" Lartes trailed off.

"The brain scans… You've hid something from me, right? Master?"

"Eh… Well… That's…"

"Is it some kind of chip implant which can help "Boss" control what memories surface yet, at the same time, censor them?"

"… Yeah. Correct. Look, Albert. We don't intend to do you any damage at all… I'd had the chance of meeting your father and he was a very kind man… His inventions were used in the wrong manner: they were meant for national armies and not guerillas… We just wanted to repress those memories and prevent PSTD which is almost impossible to heal. Do you see my point?" Lartes sighed.

"I see. I won't complain. Let it keep as it is but at least I know feel in a better mood. It's been over two months already since I started living here and I don't wanna be kept ignorant."

"But, Albert…There are things in life which are better off not knowing…"

"National secrets and material like that… I knew that, sir."

"Good. Why don't we try to shake off this gloomy mood?"

"Fine."

They both sat down on their chairs: Omega looked somewhat nervous and was scratching the rear of his helmet.

"Omega. You're not to blame. He caught you in a trap because we didn't expect him to trap us with such a question." Lartes told him.

"Ah… Gotcha."

"By the way… Where was that foreign country at?" Albert asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Ah… It was more of a "region" than a whole "country", but it was on the conflicting area close to the Himalayas… A local government-sponsored guerilla was the one employing that system and several children who were barely over 10 years old to carry out all kind of wet-works like sabotage, assassination, and stuff…" Lartes confessed.

"Hum. And there was someone named "Jack" amongst them?"

"We didn't find anyone named like that in their Japan base, so he either was still in that foreign region or he'd been KIA."

"Good. I won't ask anything else. Let's keep the schedule as it is."

"Alright. Bring the breakfast, Omega."

"And the break-slow."

"How funny."

"Heh, heh, heh! I win this round, _Danna_!"

10:09 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Weird. Why did Sigma send me a report about something being out of place here? Everything is fine."

"Hmpf. You lowlife stepped into my trap."

"Oho. I see…"

Omega had been inspecting the Orbital Base when Burai suddenly dropped down from the ceiling behind him.

"Fine. I'll toy with you today. No limiters, either… I'll bring you down in five fellow swoops." Omega grinned as he drew his saber.

"Come." Burai calmly challenged.

"Red Doubles!"

"What!"

Omega's body shone and three copies of him showed up left, right and behind Burai: they all quickly jumped over him and began to shift places at a mad speed: Burai soon lost track and tried to hit the one in front of him only for four _shuriken_ rain down on him: he groaned and spun around to hit the one behind him: the earlier process was repeated.

"Phew. 50% chances now… I like this better."

"Heh, heh, heh. Can you tell it?" Omega challenged.

"Hra~h!"

Burai hit the one on his right but it turned out to be a "Double" too, so the _shuriken_ rained down: Omega suddenly dashed towards him from the left and crouched to grab Burai's neck and left hip: he performed a _judo_ technique and brought him down into the ground as he jumped out of the way: Burai quickly recovered and warped around as he swung his sword: Omega merely changed his feet's position plus the inclination of his sword to block him: Burai began to get angered.

"You lowlife~…! Stay still so that I can beat you!" He roared

"Impress me, Burai."

"You lowlife asked for it! Flying Knuckles! Laplace Swing! Take this!"

"Slow and cheap."

Burai gasped as Omega was already dashing towards him from the SE and towards the NW: he gripped the right shoulder and left hip to throw Burai into the ground with another _judo_ technique: Burai groaned and managed to stand up.

"Crap. This guy…! He's not even using his weapons…!"

"I'm very dynamic."

"Why, you…! Take this!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Fist Barrage!"

Omega suddenly moved his fists forward and back at a mad speed while he changed the height of them plus the strength applied: the multiple attacks broke through the Mu Rejection and hit Burai's body in several spots, leaving him open for attack: Omega suddenly whirled around and kicked his lower jaw using the right foot: Burai was sent flying across the room and he hit the floor with a loud THUD and a groan.

"N-no good…! I need to focus…!" Burai groaned.

"Focus a spotlight?" Omega joked.

"Why, you…! Shockwave! Downward Strike!"

Burai lifted his right arm to make some shockwaves travel across the ground before jumping into the air and then crashing down with his sword: Omega folded his arms and let the attacks hit him but he didn't seem to mind them: Burai growled and tried to hit him using the right fist but Omega stepped to the left to make Burai's balance fail him: Burai hit the floor and quickly stood up while starting a series of attacks which cut through the air: Omega was always two steps ahead and seemingly having no trouble dodging.

"You lowlife…! Stay still…!"

"Can't do that, ya see…"

"Shut up!"

"Shut a parrot up."

"Why, you…!"

"I knew that."

"Laplace Blade!"

The Laplace Blade cut through the air coming from the NE and heading SW only to then emerge from the SE and head NW: Omega got hit twice but paid no heed to those attacks must to the building anger of Burai: he looked about to explode.

"What the hell are you lowlife?" Burai demanded.

"I'm a veteran."

"Hmpf! Blood Shadow was so easy to beat."

"He's still a rookie."

"Che."

"What? Wasn't it exciting enough for you?"

"Whatever."

"Maybe you wanna meet Mr. Doom?"

"Who…?"

"Oho. Let me introduce you to my terrific "secret mode"…"

"Secret mode…?"

Omega grinned as his eyes slowly became crimson red and a purple halo formed around him: he licked his lips and suddenly drew the saber as he moved forward in a blur: he jumped into the air and then landed atop Burai's shoulders to make him lose his balance and hit the floor: Omega then placed a lipstick sticker on his forehead.

"What the…!"

"This mode is named "Dark Messiah"… And when I start it up then I don't stop 'till everything around me is silent. Heh, heh, heh. Starting to feel less confident, Burai?"

"Che. I'll remember this!"

Burai actually ran away while Omega switched off his earlier mode: he chuckled and looked over his right shoulder.

"Yo! Super Hero – sama~! I know ya found out how to operate the cameras, so I'll praise ya. Now ya know how terrific I can be when I want to, so… Don't forget to buy your favorite "Sweet Candy" at Kodama Elementary cafeteria… Heh, heh, heh. See ya in Canada." Omega chuckled aloud as he glanced at the camera.

Omega then engaged his stealth camouflage and ran out to spot Moon Disaster singing a song: he sneaked behind him and tapped his right shoulder from behind to the then step out of the area: Moon Disaster looked around in a puzzled manner.

"YO, YO, YO! What's up? Huh? No – one…? Weird… I was sure there was someone…" He muttered.

"Bo~!" Omega uttered.

"Yikes! There's something here I can't see…? W-who…?"

"Your doom."

"Gra~h!"

Moon Disaster suddenly ran off like he was gonna be slaughtered alive: Omega chuckled and headed towards a warp point to appear on the Wave Roads over Shiisaa Island.

_Burai got a nice idea of my potential… He'll get obsessed with trying to beat me, so… I'm heading back. So, Albert… Ya got serious. Good. Maybe you'll be sharper at dodging my trolling, even… Heh, heh, heh… We're about to enter a new stage…!_

11:29 AM (Japan Time)…

"… I'm stuck. I thought going by instinct would be good, but… I can't find the "link" I'm looking for…!"

"That's why you should've written down that information, Shidou…"

"Yeah. Now Mr. Perfect comes tell me how I should be doing things, ain't that right?"

"Wrong."

Shidou was getting nervous again as he struggled with something using one console: Acid was criticizing him but Shidou was only getting even more nervous.

"Go to Alaska with the 4:44 AM train!" Shidou shouted at him.

"I have no register of such a train existing anywhere."

"It's an irony!"

"It doesn't sound like one."

"I give up! Go tell Gonta how to perfect his Denpa – Henkan!"

"Maybe."

"Grah! I'm about to explode! I need a "Sweet Candy" already! They always calm me down!" Shidou groaned.

"Cool it down and try to focus: what are you looking for to begin with?"

"A person's name…! And someone asked me to look it up, but I forgot who and when…!" Shidou fumed.

"Then we're pretty much leadless because we…"

"I know the rest! We've looked up tens of persons! But I don't mind that right now: I'll _find_ that bloody name no matter what!"

Acid fell silent while Shidou violently typed into the console.

_I'm getting closer…! The "link" must be here…! _


	17. Chapter 16: Challenge

**Chapter 16: Challenge**

09:07 AM (Japan Time), Monday September the 15th…

"So… Akatsuki – kun. You found something important?"

"I have, Daigo – san. Listen well, Misora. This could be decisive information to figure out Subaru's current status."

"Really…?"

"What is it?"

"Spit it out already!"

"Rock. Cool it down."

"We are not here to fight."

Shidou had come to the Hoshikawa house to speak with Daigo and Akane: Misora had come as well as the Wizards: War Rock looked impatient, Harp was scolding him and Acid was as dull as ever.

"Have a look at this." Shidou announced.

He looked up something on his Hunter – VG: a holographic screen displaying Albert's face was brought up and everyone looked puzzled at the photo.

"Who's that guy?" War Rock asked.

"His name is Kazimura Albert. I looked him up at Gonta's request since he wanted to give him back a forgotten item. But there's more to him than it'd seem at a first look." Shidou announced.

"Why?" Misora asked.

"To begin with… He has not past."

"Huh? No past?" Daigo frowned.

"The first register of his existence dates back at July the 6th, one day following Subaru's disappearance… He was brought into a hospital while having suffered extreme injuries."

"Extreme injuries…?" Harp wondered.

"There were as much as twelve cuts of different length, height, depth and orientation thus a totally ugly blow to the rear of his skull which "looked" like it'd been caused by some fragment or another gotten stuck inside of his skull… And thus, he was diagnosed with amnesia because, when he woke up, he couldn't remember anything at all. Not even his name."

"Wait… Are you hinting that…?" Akane gasped.

"Correct. I thought he _was_ the real Subaru."

"You thought he was?" Daigo frowned again.

"Continuing with my investigations… I ran across interesting info. His name was given to him by a newbie medic who'd been on charge of him as his first serious case… He suggested that the reason for those injuries could be the act of some criminals and that they'd gone too far thus ditched him in the hospital to see if he'd make it out of that situation alive to then force him to keep doing things for them… But the medic suggested that he could adopt him and then keep him safe."

"That sounds very convenient, doesn't it?" Acid commented.

"So. That medic gave him the name "Albert" and, given how he adopted him, he was given the surname "Kazimura" as well… Are we to assume that he's living with this "Dr. Kazimura" character?" Misora guessed.

"Correct. They live in a lone mansion built upon an isolated island communicated via a private plane service… And I was convinced that I had the mystery solved until I had the blood sample kept in the hospital analyzed to then compare it to Subaru's…" He trailed off.

"They don't match?" War Rock asked.

"More or less. The exact match percentage is about 48.5%, so…"

"Hmmm… Maybe they had some kind of technology capable of altering DNAs by a given value?" Misora suggested.

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that."

"If that was the case, then… All the pieces of the puzzle would be in place and we'd know their HQ's location…" Daigo looked animated.

"But why they'd go to such ends?" Akane wondered.

"Fear of what "IQ" could do if Subaru fell into their hands… Remember how they played it up with that fake corpse. We don't wanna that ending up being real and finding _two_ corpses… Right?" Shidou reminded them.

"No, no! So they wanted to make it look like "Albert" had no linking at all in the whole affair by inflicting those wounds into him and faking amnesia on him while building up a believable story… That's why he can't contact us: he doesn't remember who he is to begin with!" Daigo exclaimed.

"I've prepared a special unit to be deployed to the Kazimura Mansion… Misora, will you come along? If we have to face the three androids, then we need as much as firepower as possible…" Shidou requested.

"Roger, Akatsuki – san!"

"I applaud your extra hours, _shachou_!" A voice suddenly rang out of nowhere.

"Huh? That voice…?" Shidou frowned.

Omega suddenly became visible and everyone gasped upon seeing him: he had his arms folded and looked amused.

"Omega…!"

"However! You're two steps too late, _shachou_."

"What?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"But that means my investigation hit the mark, doesn't it?"

"Ask Mr. Perfect over there, _shachou_. I'm off. Beware of your fan-club's hysterical fan-girl squad."

Omega vanished while Shidou rolled his eyes: War Rock was actually laughing at it while everyone else didn't find it funny.

"Akatsuki? We've got trouble!" One officer suddenly reported over the Hunter – VG.

"What's up?"

"Kazimura Mansion… It's nowhere to be found using satellite search or radar!"

"Impossible!"

"There's only a violent storm in a 2 kilometers radius around the spot where the mansion should be at!" The officer reported next.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"I'm serious! All helicopters which tried to come closer were pushed back by the gales and boat-travel is impossible! Yet there's nothing wrong with Shiisaa Island's environment control system!"

"It's gotta be a ploy of them… They foresaw this would happen and are shielding their hides from siege! Well then, let's go by…"

"There aren't Wave Roads which pass over or get any close at the mansion, either! The closest one, heading SSE, is no closer than 1.6 kilometers from the mansion's outer walls! Wizards can't hover over such stormy sea and neither can Denpa – Henkan users! Cygnus Wing tried and almost drowned there!"

"A perfect isolation…? But how can they hope to resist without daily supplies coming in?" Shidou wondered.

"I don't think they need those. According to the registers, a whole month's worth of supplies is brought every fifteen days, so they should have gotten a new supply a few hours ago enough to last out two months or more!"

"So that's what Omega meant by "two steps too late"…! They've already foreseen all flaws to such a strategy and covered them!" Shidou grumbled.

"Che. Bothersome jerks…" War Rock grumbled.

"Something tells me they're getting desperate. They must want to stall until they can bring down "IQ"…" Misora suggested.

"I'm off to the WAXA HQ… We need to come up with a strategy!"

"Be careful, Akatsuki – kun!" Daigo warned.

"Don't worry: I'll make sure to bring Subaru back in one piece and bring down that "IQ" fella along the way!"

"Yeah! Tell them their hide is uglier than Ox's."

"I wouldn't disagree on that, truth to be told…"

"Jeez." Harp grumbled.

"Men and their manias…" Misora shrugged.

"Oi! What was that for?" War Rock asked.

"Nothing."

"Could we get moving already?" Acid calmly asked.

"Yeah! Let's go. War Rock! You're in charge!"

"Oh yeah! Leave it up to me: I'll tell Ox to move his lazy Operator's stomach and do something useful!" War Rock grinned.

"Jeez. You're too hyperactive!" Harp protested.

"Complain to Mr. X.!" War Rock laughed.

"I dunno who that is but I guess it's a joke." Misora muttered while sounding unimpressed.

"War Rock. Do not destroy half of the town trying to prove your superiority to Ox." Acid warned.

"Tell that to the guy! He's the one who went around breaking things down back when our first encounter!"

"He who warns a traitor is not."

"Stuff your quotes on the drawer and get out!"

Misora, Harp, Acid and Shidou came out while War Rock grinned: Daigo and Akane glanced at one photo of Subaru while looking nervous…

09:57 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh! We're almost done at this rate… The only thing left is the main console…"

"Yeah… Sorry for the burden, Lartes, but I don't believe Sigma to be careful enough, Blood is keeping the gateway open from other side and Omega is keeping watch of Albert, so…"

"I don't mind, really."

Vadous and Lartes were transporting one of the capsules across the basement and into the room with the portal-generating machine: one such portal was open and working.

"Well! At least we had the bright idea of duplicating the whole mansion in SS1 way in advance… Speaking of mansions… That creepy half-wrecked mansion you placed atop the Cold Sleep Facility… What are we gonna do with it? I doubt it really helping draw any intruders who make it through the portal coordinates into traps…" Lartes brought up.

"Oh, that… Guess I'll tear it down and place a security compound to protect access to the facility… Which I'm gonna shut down and transform into a secondary power center, too… I don't wanna keep it using as "IQ" wanted: I hate the idea of humans used as guinea-pigs." Vadous replied.

"Good idea… We don't wanna have an accident similar to the one back in May… I still find it hard to believe that supply vault was so faulty…"

"I tried to get a decent one but not a deluxe one, so… Things like these end up happening. Something similar happened at a place named Three Mile Island long, long ago…"

"Ah… I read about it, true. Switching topics… We're almost into the gateway, so let's make sure it waits for us to get in before making the transfer…" Lartes warned.

"Yeah… Let's move it out."

They headed into the gateway, stepped inside, and vanished while the machine kept on humming…

10:02 AM (Japan Time)…

"… What a storm! Luckily, the perimeter walls are keeping most of those waves at bay…"

"Yeah… Hadn't seen one like that ever since the winter…"

Albert was training with the boxing sack inside of the attic room and looking out towards the mole of the deployed security walls which were repulsing the waves: he looked surprised while Omega was calmly leaning in one wall with his arms folded and looking amused.

"Anyway… What's Master doing or I'm not allowed to know that?"

"Ask Mr. Perfect." Omega quickly replied.

"Ah. And where might I find him?" Albert asked of him.

"Dunno. Look under your bed." Omega shrugged.

"That is a rather moot point, sir."

"Heh. Ya sound like a lawyer."

"That sounds overused."

"Oho. Starting to counter my swift glare?"

"More like sarcastic wording, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. Oho. Dracula is roaming around us…"

"Dracula is a fictional character, sir."

"Maybe Count Doom will come to say hi?" He suggested.

"I doubt such a person existing, sir." Albert calmly replied.

"Man. You're too skeptical." Omega sighed.

"I question things and do not believe them unless there is solid evidence. That is how police works, anyway, sir."

"True, true. So you're gonna be a Satella Police Special Unit Member in the future, Bertie?" Omega made up a nickname with a grin.

"Please stop with the nicknames. But that idea is not too far-fetched."

"The nickname war has begun."

"Is that so? Who has started it?" Albert asked with a hint of curiosity.

"I always start it." Omega replied.

"That doesn't sound good, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. Of course not. It's the prelude to the thirty-six bells of doom." Omega blinked him the right eye.

"I find that to be a highly unrealistic claim, sir."

"Man. I'm running out of ideas." Omega rolled his eyes.

"That would be preferable." Albert calmly admitted.

"Now ya sound like a villain." Omega teased.

"Is that so?" Albert asked.

"Kidding…"

"I don't think these things can be looked upon with such a mood, sir."

"Oi, oi… Do ya need an ear-pull?" Omega joked next.

"No, sir. And I doubt Master approving of such acts, sir."

"Such acts… Ya sound like a lawyer again! It's a joke!"

"Well then, I am not fond of jokes, sir."

"_San wa iranai_, Bertie!"

"Do please stop the nickname war."

"Is that a plea?" Omega sounded amused.

"It is a request."

"Heh, heh, heh. Nah… You're pleading, Bertie."

"I am not, sir."

"I find that contradicting, Mr. Smith."

"… Is that so?"

"Oi, oi… Are you listening?" Omega called out.

"I am."

"Will you at least bother to look at your opponent when you're talking or you don't find me worthy enough?"

"Master told me your glares have a trap to them, sir."

"Ah… _Danna_ likes to dramatize from time to time, ya see, Bertrand."

"That sounds unlikely."

"I give up… I liked your previous "self"… Did it go vacationing to the Bahamas or what?" Omega sighed.

"It might be the case."

"Che. There's no fun anymore… Guess I need to go back to making the Minotaur wannabe run into the walls… See ya and don't forget to show body to the fan-girl mob, Mr. Russell."

"Who…?"

Omega closed the door and Albert stopped, frowning and looking somewhat perplexed.

"Who did he mean?" He wondered.

He shrugged and continued practicing with the sack while coming up with new approaches to it along the way: he looked totally concentrated.

_These skills will help me survive. I must train hard on them, but I won't neglect the studies I'm supposed to be doing… I will find the culprits behind my disgraces in life and make sure they don't get away with it! That's my "ultimate goal" so as to speak… _

He delivered a four-hit combo to the sack before stopping: he grinned.

_Let's move on forward!_

He then headed out of the room and into a changing room having a metallic locker: he took the gloves off and stored them there before picking shampoo and a towel.

_Let's have a good shower before heading downstairs…_

He headed for the shower room door and then closed the door: Omega suddenly snuck into the changing room and stopped next to the bathroom door while looking like he was up to something.

"Bertie~! I'm Saxby's wandering soul…! Come find me this midnight when the twelve bells of _Mitternacht _ring out to signal the end of all life and the descent of Doom – sama~!" He chanted.

"Omega – san! One has a right to some privacy, sir!" Albert yelled back from inside of the room.

"It's not like I'm coming in, right?" He teased.

"But you have no right to drive me crazy with your songs, either, sir!"

"Oho. I knew it. You're a lawyer apprentice!"

"I am not! Now please grab your songs and go to some festival or another to sing them, sir!" Albert groaned.

"Oho. Ya sound about to open the door and throw the soap bar at my forehead for an improvised attack… Well then, I'm going to bring the fan-girl mob here…"

"There is no such "group" of "admirers", sir!"

Omega giggled aloud and slammed the door shut on his way out while Albert let out a groan of annoyance which rang out into the changing room.

"This wasn't funny!" He growled.

"Jackie~!" Omega's voice echoed.

Albert cursed something under his breath.

_Omega – san is gonna drive me crazy at this rate…!_


	18. Chapter 17: Subspace

**Chapter 17: Subspace**

11:33 AM (Japan Time), Monday September the 15th…

"… Good morning… Master. Boss. You looked tired, gentlemen."

"Yeah. We are."

"Moving all that heavy stuff was no joke."

Albert had come downstairs to find Lartes and Vadous sitting opposite each other in the table while looking tired: Albert lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"Is something the matter?"

"True. We're moving." Lartes admitted.

"Eh? Where to?"

"A replica of this mansion… In a high-security location… Those guerilla guys managed to put two and two together and will be coming as soon as this storm we stirred up fades, so we gotta move out before that. I'll destroy the machine needed to do that so that they can't follow us. Pick you things and get ready to come with us: we're leaving ASAP." Vadous instructed.

"… Roger."

Albert quickly headed upstairs and picked his stuff which he packed inside of a suitcase: he locked it and brought it out into the hallway as Lartes came out of his room as well.

"Good. Omega! Open the elevator. We need to go down NOW." Lartes called out.

"Roger, _Danna_."

Omega headed towards the wall and lifted his right hand: the boar's eye scanned its palm and then turned green: the wall slid away to the left to reveal the elevator.

"Let's go! To Dante's Inferno!" Omega joked.

"Very original." Lartes drily told him.

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Wait for me!" Vadous caught up with them while carrying a suitcase of his own, too.

The group of four stepped into the elevator and it descended for a few seconds before pinging and reaching the basement: they stepped out of it and Albert glanced at the walls with a hint of curiosity.

"Looks like a refuge…"

"Correct. It's built to be resistant to surface bombing, even. The elevator shaft has a seal mechanism, too." Vadous confirmed.

"So… Are those two androids here or are they waiting for us at the new location?"

"They're waiting for us so let's not sit idle."

They stepped into the room with the machine which was already humming and active: Albert looked surprised at it while Omega was using a roll of adhesive tape to seal the door from the inside: he then shot one plasma shot at the handle and lock to ruin them.

"This should delay them a bit. O. K. Boss goes first, Albert goes second, _Danna_ goes third and I cover the backs... Backer!" Omega told them.

"Roger."

Vadous calmly stepped into the open gateway and vanished: Albert gulped and dared to step into it: the world was replaced by a purple tunnel stretching beyond what the eye could see through a mass of utter blackness and purple static electricity: something gripped his whole body and he was shot forward: before he'd been able to process anything, though, he'd come out of the machine into a largely similar room although the walls were metallic instead of concrete bricks and the machine was set behind him instead.

"W-whoa!" He uttered.

"Surprised?" Vadous asked with a smile.

"I wasn't able to even process the surroundings! It was so fast…!"

"Of course it was! That trip is made at roughly light-speed…"

"Roughly light-speed…!" Albert gasped.

"Correct. Thus, this why the body is unable to process such inputs and barely acknowledges the "trip" itself through this "tunnel"…" Lartes announced as he came in.

"O. K. I set the system to self-destruct if anyone came closer than 2 meters to it with a 10 – second countdown. Pity. I'd loved to have them hear the thirty-six bells of doom…" Omega reported as he came in with a grin.

"Will you stop with that silly nickname already, Omega?" Vadous growled.

"Ask Mr. Perfect."

"Yeah. And who's that?"

"Dunno. Maybe he is your lucky charm's spirit."

"Hmpf. Whatever. Let's go."

"Sure, Mr. Bell."

"What did you call me?"

"Mr. Bell."

"That's so lame, really."

"Blame Mr. Smith and his sunken ship."

"I don't see the meaning of that at all."

Albert ignored their discussions and seemed to be thinking about something.

_So, we'll be safe in here from the bad guys… Just what is this place about, I do wonder? I can't wait to check it out and meet the two "androids" living here, too…_

12:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Nothing! No progress! We're stuck."

"Oi, Shidou…"

"What?"

"Can't ya simply go and destroy that weather control satellite?"

"Tell me, War Rock. _How many_ satellites are up there?"

"Huh? I thought the AM Administrators' ones were there…"

"True. But there are _hundreds_ of them there ranging several years and countries! What's more: several of them are actually used for weather control, so… We can't just go knock at each satellite's "Cybernetics" because it'd take _forever_!"

"Crap."

Shidou was trying to seemingly organize the chaos the control room was when War Rock brought the topic up: Shidou replied in a totally exasperated manner while Acid made no comments.

"I'm not going out until that rain vanishes. I'm allergic to water!" Ox exclaimed.

"Hah! Chicken!" War Rock provoked.

"What the heck…?" Ox grumbled.

"You two… Don't start the war up again!" Harp protested.

"Don't get in the way, Harp!"

"This is manly thing!"

"And that's why History is so "manly", right?" Queen Tia asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oi, oi! I'm a former alien! Don't blame me!"

"Don't blame the great me, either."

"If we've settled that, could we focus on how we're gonna locate the satellite?" Shidou called out.

"Call Moon Disaster." War Rock laughed.

"We did. He's working on it."

"Huh? _Working_ on it? I thought he was lazier than Ugly Face over here."

"Who's "Ugly Face", hmmm?"

"Your aunt is."

"What "aunt" are ya talking about? Buruo~!"

"Ask Ou – sama!"

"I cannot bother Ou – sama with such meaningless stuff!"

"That's you guys. But he's trying to find the satellite himself, too, because he won't be satisfied any time soon." Shidou told me.

"What?" Both looked surprised.

"I'm serious."

"Serious? Did you eat too much "Sweet Candy" or what?"

"No."

"He did." Acid spoke.

"Aha! I knew it." Queen Tia looked like she'd seen it coming.

"Crap. Speaker guy…!" Shidou grumbled.

"Enough!" The Chief commanded.

"Roger…" Shidou sighed.

"Ya know what? I'm not gonna lose to Ou – sama! I'm off to searching for Mr. Universe, too!"

"There is no need for that."

"Who…?"

Cepheus suddenly showed up inside of the room.

"I have found and disabled the satellite with help from the AM Administrators… They were able to isolate its unique signature but no important data was onboard… The storm should be loosening up by now and dissolve in the next 2 hours." He reported.

"What? We've gotta wait 2 hours?" War Rock groaned.

"If you want to go on ahead feel free to but there is no method to reach the place as the storm is still at its apex." Cepheus calmly invited.

"Che! I get the message."

"At least we're gonna be able to hit them. We should bring all Denpa – Henkan members since Omega won't be easy to tackle. Our mission is to rescue "Albert" or, rather, Subaru, and find a way to restore his memories to normal. War Rock, Ox… We'd be interested in getting all stuff _in one piece_. Gotcha?" Shidou announced.

"Hmpf! What… Are you calling me berserk grunt?"

"Hmpf! I'm not as idiotic as this grunt over here."

"Ox. Be silent." Cepheus commanded.

"R-roger, sir!"

"War Rock. I would suggest to you to be silent, too."

"Che! Alright!"

"Let's go over battle strategies and the data we have on those three… We'll need it." Dr. Yoiri suggested.

"Acid. Bring the data up."

"Roger."

"And bring a cocktail along!" War Rock laughed.

"Hmpf. Useless." Ox scoffed.

War Rock grumbled while the others began looking at the data…

14:06 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Good! We're finally here."

"Let's hit them hard!"

"Cool it down."

"Hah! Heat it up yourself, ugly Minotaur wannabe!"

"… I feel hungry."

"No way… You just had a whole ginger beef!"

Acid Ace, Cepheus, Ox Fire, Harp Note, Cygnus Wing and War Rock were standing in front of the Kazimura mansion's front gates: most the mansion was still covered by the security walls' shade and looked somewhat sinister: the air was silent except for the sound of waves crashing against the walls.

"Let's ring the bell." Acid Ace suggested.

He touched and thirty-six bell strokes rang out in a succession before a giggle rang out.

"Yo! Super Hero – sama~! If ya and your fan-club came, then beware of one thing… If ya try to open the doors or windows, ya get shock treatment… And the thirty-six bells of doom have just rang out, so ya have 'bout 10 minutes before Ms. Moon drops down and tells ya you're fired… I'd be running into the shelter if I were ya." Omega's pre-recorded voice told them with obvious amusement.

"Dunno what this guy is talking about. Let's go!"

War Rock rammed into the doors only to get electrocuted and he dropped into the ground while grumbling: Ox Fire made a noise similar to a chuckle.

"That's what ya get for being so rushed."

"Ya jerk… I'll bloodily beat ya one day!" War Rock cursed.

"Will you act like men already?" Cepheus asked.

"Sure~…" Both grumbled.

"Sorry for the wait! I will handle this." Crown Thunder announced as he showed up on the scene.

"Good. Go ahead." Acid Ace invited.

"Hroa~h!"

The electricity flew into Crown Thunders' body and he then released it into the air: Acid Ace reached for a control panel and interacted with it: the doors opened inwards with a loud squeaking sound while a melody played by an organ instrument began to ring out.

"Welcome to Uncle Omega's Utterly Terrific and Horrific Mansion of Doom! Bwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

"This guy is getting crazier with every passing day." Acid Ace grimly muttered.

"Let's go!" Harp Note rallied.

They ran into the unlit foyer: a grandfather's clock chimed from somewhere in the house while some hollow echo-like moans began to ring out.

"Bertie~…!"

"Saxby~…!"

"Go~…!"

"W-what?" Cygnus Wing uttered.

"Another of Omega's bright ideas, I'd say… Look: I'm sure there's gotta be a basement or something similar, so let's search for its entrance. The energy those portals emit would've been picked up long ago if they were created in the surface." Acid Ace instructed.

"Clark Kent – sama~…! I brought the elixir of eternal life~…!"

"This is turning nonsensical." Harp Note muttered with a hint of annoyance on her voice and face.

"Obviously…" Cepheus muttered.

"O. K.! War Rock, go with Harp Note. Ox Fire, come with me. Cygnus Wing and FM King, you might go together if you'd like to. Crown Thunder, stay outside and make sure no magnetic storm tries to hit us!"

"Roger!"

Ox Fire and Acid Ace ran upstairs and began to check the rooms: they entered Albert's bedroom and checked the dust marks.

"Hmmm… A book was set on this table for most of the time. The foot imprint matches a guy your age, so… I'd say this was Subaru's room. He was here until very recently ago." Acid Ace guessed.

"Huh. Nice room… Mine is a mess."

"It'd be nicer if you _bothered_ to clean it up, Gonta." Ox told him.

"Oh. Shut up."

"Fine."

"Let's check the hallway."

"O. K."

Both came out and Acid Ace quickly spotted the red light being emitted by the boar's eye: he examined it and then used his knuckles to hit the wall: an echo rang out and he grinned.

"Gonta. Do a good job."

"Buruo~! Leave it to me! Ox Tackle!"

Ox Fire rammed into the wall and made it jump off the threshold and fly across the shaft before hitting the far wall and falling down with a loud metallic sound which echoed out of the shaft: the rest of the team quickly came upstairs attracted by the sound.

"_Voilà_." Acid Ace grinned.

"Whoa."

"Let's go!"

They quickly jumped down and managed to lift up the blown out wall to find that they were standing atop a sealed metallic hatch: Acid Ace quickly found a hidden control panel with two buttons: a green one and a red one set on the SE corner: he pressed the green button and the group had to jump into the air as the hatch opened: they fell down another little bit until they landed atop the elevator.

"The elevator… We don't wanna destroy it, so… Let's access its "Cybernetics" and try to find an exit into the corridor." Acid Ace suggested.

"Roger!"

They quickly performed Cyber – In before coming out through a Cyber – Out into the corridor which was totally unlit: a faint glow emitted by lines drawn on the ground was the only source of light.

"Welcome to the Sinister Corridor! Wandering souls await ya guys to tell ya Ms. Moon is about to fire ya guys!" Omega's pre-recorded voice greeted with obvious amusement.

"We're so impressed, really." Harp Note drily muttered.

"Let's split again and check everything!" War Rock suggested.

Harp Note tagged along Acid Ace and they found the sealed up door: they used their Sword Battle Cards to cut the tape from the outside and they then rammed into it to force it open: they ran towards the inactive portal machine and began to check it when a beep rang out.

"Welcome to Uncle Omega's 10 Crazy Seconds show! 10: wander wandering wanderer! 9: jump jumping jumper! 8: moon moaning moans! 7: pick picking pickles! 6: stack stacking stacks! 5: admire admiring admiration! 4: close closing closures! 3: jam jamming jams! 2: rip ripping rips! 1: run for your bucks! 0: you're fired! _Bye-bye_!"

The machine suddenly emitted some noises and suddenly blew up: the shockwave pushed both of them back and inflicted some damage.

"What the…! Self-destruct device…?" Harp Note cursed.

"Crap…! They foresaw everything…! It'll take us YEARS to make sense outta this heap of broken metal!" Acid Ace cursed.

"We found something." Cepheus announced.

"What?"

"This memo…"

Acid Ace picked it up and read it.

"Huh… "IQ! You're gonna end up in jail for the rest of your worthless days along with Secretary: you two tyrants will soon realize how your arrogance brought along you lowlifes' defeat. I won't be you lowlifes' puppet anymore and I don't care what people think of me: I know I am "weird" to begin with but that doesn't matter. This madness NEEDS to end." … Hmmm… Sounds like he wrote down some of his thoughts…" Acid Ace read aloud before muttering.

"There are some others but all more or less are focused on these two figures… There are some calculations attached, too."

"Fine. At least let's pick up these memos and go back to WAXA HQ to run analysis on them… There's nothing else which can be done here and I doubt them coming back, either." Acid Ace decided.

"We were so close…! But it's not like they're playing dirty, right? I'd guess they're desperate to avoid such a grimly scenario from happening." Harp Note commented.

"Yeah. But I think he'd be safer under our protection and with War Rock around so that he can fight back…" Acid Ace shrugged.

"Che! Next time I'll beat them up! Grfthjx!" War Rock grumbled.

"That won't do." Cygnus told him.

"Che! Everyone here is Mr. Perfect or what?"

"No."

"You guys! Pick all up memos or notes you find: we're gonna try to put some pieces of the puzzle together like this."

"Roger!"

The team spent a few more minutes sweeping through the rooms and picking up memos while doing their best to ignore the persistent pre-recorded messages.

"The Department of All Knowledge tells you guys you should build the new World Encyclopedia using leafs from dead trees."

"That sounds so impossible." Cepheus muttered.

"Mr. Perfectionist tells ya to go fight a sorcerer using a fork, a knife and a spoon as weapons."

"What silliness, really." Harp Note groaned.

"And, lastly…"

"What?" War –Rock asked.

"… _Oh yeah_! _Rock 'n Roll_! _Let's go_! _Full speed_! Break into the Universal HQ using a battleship! Bwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

"That one was so lame, really." Acid Ace grumbled.

"Oho. Clark Kent – sama's soul demands more eternal life elixir! Bring it to him before he kicks you into the recycle bin! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!" The laughter's pitch was louder this time.

There was a sudden sound and the speakers died down: everyone sighed in relief.

"Guess that's when his Boss found out what he'd been doing and yanked the microphone off the guy… Anyway… Let's go back! There's work to be done!"

"O. K.!"

_Subaru…! We're stepping closer to rescuing you… Hang in there! Akatsuki Shidou will get to the bottom of this!_


	19. Chapter 18: Replica

**Chapter 18: Replica**

10:10 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday September the 16th…

"… I can't stop watching this new scenery over and over again… It somehow captivates my sight the whole time…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Boss is a genius when it comes to decorating, Bertie – chan!"

"Do please halt this pointless conflict, Omega – san."

"That sounds like a politician."

"No way…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Hit a vibe?"

"No, sir. It is getting even more ridiculous."

"Heh, heh, heh. It's getting craftier."

"Omega! Stop fooling around and go do something useful."

"O. K., _Danna_. I'll tell Clark Kent ya called for him. Heh, heh, heh."

"That guy…"

"He is driving us closer to madness, Master."

"Yeah. True."

Albert had been standing in the attic of the new mansion and looking out through the windows at the scenery while Omega had been joking with him until Lartes came in and shooed him off the room: Albert was sporting his boxing shorts and shoes plus the gloves.

"You were talking about the scenery? Yeah. It even captivates me even though I've been seeing for years." Lartes smiled at him.

"And this is the "Subspace", another "space" within "space" or a "subspace" hence why the organization is name liked that… It seems to fit with the place's atmosphere, sir." Albert muttered with a hint of awe and surprise.

The scenery was dominated by a tall peak several tens of kilometers away which seemed to over 3,000 meters tall: it was very inclined and its slopes began close to sea level since it stood in the middle of a small island: the rock looked thick and hard while the whole formation was bathed by an spiraling purplish fog giving it an eerie aura: it seemed to be the center of everything.

"Mt. Control… And its name ain't an irony: built underneath its foundations is the Subspace Command Center from which several systems are being controlled and monitored." Lartes muttered.

"It cannot be seen from here, but… I saw imagery of a ruined mansion built atop a hill… Why is it like that, sir?"

"Oh. The ruined mansion… That's Boss' idea of a trap. There would be some who toyed with the space-time coordinates they might stumble upon and would end up there… They would try to seek shelter or hints in the mansion and end up walking into a trap device to warn of their presence… A facility is built underneath it to hold a "Cold Sleep Storage Room"… But we've never used it: the room exists but we only use it to store spare stuff." Lartes explained.

"I see… And why is there an Aztec-like temple, too?"

"An irony, too… We store a gigantic statue recreating a pre-Columbine deity but it serves no real function… And, as you could see, the only real transport method is boats which are stored in Mt. Control's built-in docks… And there's not much more to see. The weather was turned more hospitable by weather control satellites. But we left the cold weather on the north and south poles of the planet as it is… This one's size is largely similar to Earth, hence why gravity is almost identical to it. But its evolution has been very different indeed, too, obviously enough."

"And this planet was found by chance four years ago?"

"Correct. There are another two closer planets we use to hold experimental real-size facilities mock-ups built at record speeds using automated robots and nanomachines working non-stop 24/7… There's always some project going on."

"It is truly impressive, sir. And now I feel secure: it is impossible for such guerilla grunts to get here."

"Of course it is! They must think we're somewhere else in Japan or in another country altogether. Only we know about this place's existence to begin with."

"By the way, sir… When I was introduced to Blood Shadow and Sigma a while ago, I noticed something… Seeing Blood Shadow triggered something on me, like I should clearly know about him but it cannot be because your just recently completed him. He hadn't existed before and no – one else knew about the project." Albert brought up.

"My. That's curious…" Lartes looked intrigued.

"Isn't it, sir?"

"Well… Maybe he reminded you of someone?"

"Ah. It could have been the case… Maybe he resembles someone I used to know and that's why my instincts were triggered… Yet… I tried looking up "Shooting Star" and I found out it's written as _ryuusei_ in Japanese… The name has been bugging me for a while… And after thinking about it, maybe it was an alias or codename those guerilla people gave to me since they were trying to recreate a "hero"…" Albert exposed.

"Oh. Good theory! It could very well be the truth. Yet, Albert… We don't really control when or what memories appear. We only try to filter the ugly parts on them so as to not to traumatize you. And the reason we filter out the names is because we don't want you to get obsessed over them, either… Do you get me?"

"I do, sir, and I do not complain. This is preferable to suffering PSTD for the rest of my life. It would rob my life of any meaning."

"Good. Now let's keep on with the training, shall we?"

"Roger, sir."

Albert quickly began training with the sack while Lartes looked on with a broad smile…

10:22 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew! My scores at fighting Phantom Black are improving steadily… I guess I should be ready to tackle Yeti Blizzard next."

"Saxby~!"

"Yikes!"

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"Sir Omega! Sir! That was not fair, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. All's fair in kidding and trolling."

"That sounds like a corruption you came up with, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. Ya sound like a…"

"… I sound like a lawyer. I knew that, sir."

Omega had snuck on Blood Shadow: he didn't find the joke amusing and now looked unimpressed.

"Maybe you wanna me to introduce you to Area M?" Omega teased with a broad grin.

"Area M…? Ah! Not that again, sir! I am not going to do such an unmoral and vicious act, sir!" Blood Shadow vehemently refused.

"By the way… Did the villain's repulsive old soldier take Area M away from that spot?" Omega grinned.

"I do not know who you mean, sir, without more specifics."

"Being moody, huh? No big deal, fella. We're gonna go shake our skeletons up and down while ya date Area L."

"I do not plan on "dating" Shirogane Luna – san, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Fine. I'll find ya Area S and Area QT, then… _Bye-bye_, Bloody Shadowy!"

"Blood Shadow, sir!"

Omega ran out giggling while Blood Shadow slapped his face in defeat with the left hand.

"Perfect. He now is trying to trick me into meeting Suzuka – san or Queen Tia – san. I'm supposed to be 12 and I don't feel like "dating" anyone yet given how I am an _android_ to begin with!" He grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh. Ms. Moon tells ya you're fired." Sigma suddenly joked as he came out of a nearby room.

"Sigma. Go tell Ms. Moon to help you fire Brachio Wave."

"Heh, heh, heh. Fine… But maybe one of those girls is gonna ask ya to accompany them as personal bodyguard…"

"No way…"

"Way, wanderer of ways."

"Stop making up puns and beat down that Loch Ness Monster wannabe already, will ya?" Blood grumbled.

"Delighted…"

Sigma headed back into the room while Blood Shadow began to walk the corridor down while seemingly thinking.

_Albert, huh… It was so obvious… The vibe he gave off… And my design stirred something on him. Let's let him build up whatever conclusion he wants to… Things are gonna get exciting again soon enough… Heh, heh, heh… And those WAXA guys are forgetting to check for an "extra guest" who slipped inside in a sneaky manner… Heh, heh, heh. _

He entered a storeroom and sat down on a stool while grinning and examining his shotgun from different angles.

_Better this to a talking alien, I'd say… Heh, heh, heh. And one day, I shall become strong enough to directly challenge Rock Man into a passionate battle… Heh, heh, heh… _

He chuckled under his breath and formed a sinister smile as his shades reflected some light…

10:44 AM (Japan Time)…

"… O. K. Let's break down the general picture we built up from the memos we've collected and analyzed."

"Good. Start."

The WAXA and Satella Police teams had met in the control room and Shidou looked up from some notes.

"This "IQ" figure is terrifically powerful… It controls the major organized crime business in Japan though fear, extortion, blackmail, murder, sabotage and wet-works… Its fortune is hard to calculate, but something like building Spica Mall could be done almost ten times over before money ran out…"

"Whoa!" Everyone exclaimed.

"This individual seems to possess a "crew" of about thirty men… They all share the same background: underground boxing rings across the world, prone to violence and very hard to beat… Easily satisfied with a good deal of money, too, so that they always remain "loyal" to their employers… They're feared all across this so-called "Secret Empire"…"

"Yikes. I thought Joker was bad enough, but those guys…" Jack muttered with a hint of fear.

"The underground is a cruel place." Queen Tia muttered

"So! What exactly does that "IQ" jerk do to gain money?" Gonta asked.

"To keep it simple… Drug trading, "red-light" activities, urban speculation, loan sharks… The list is large… But there's nothing saying the age of the criminal, either. Maybe it's one of those men on their 50s who love being in control of everything." Shidou listed.

"Red-light activities…? They skip red lights in street races?" Gonta asked with a frown.

"Yeah. I meant to say illegal bike races with high bets on them, true… Anyway… Let's go on." Shidou confirmed.

Jack seemed to be about to say something but Queen Tia directed a cold stare at him: he gulped and shut his mouth without saying anything: Misora looked surprised.

_Maybe it's a topic which may be too much to be spoken in front of children and thus he went along with Gonta – kun's imagination…_

"So: we should be glad no – one has died or gotten into a dramatic mess by now because this guy seems to be busy focusing the attention elsewhere…" Shidou summed up.

"In effect!" A voice rang out.

The lighting dimmed and the holographic display turned on to reveal Vadous calmly sitting on his revolving chair and tapping both armrests in a distracted manner.

"Vadous… So! Did you flee to the North Pole or what?"

"What? Oh. No, no… A place way beyond your reach… Subspace I!"

"What? Where's that?"

"Not on Earth… Another planet! Another "space" within "space", the "Subspace"…!"

"Whoa!"

"What? Didn't Sirius "R" Wizards open up a Noise Wave which ended up connecting Earth and Planet FM? I did something similar but all entrances to here expect _one_ are gone… And that remaining one is by no means easily accessible." Vadous announced.

"So? When are you gonna bring that villain down?"

"I've been able to move the schedule forward… I expect it to happen within the next 15 days."

"That's not much of a wait, so… Are you gonna send us a new challenge along the way?"

"Find it yourselves."

"How?" Shidou asked.

"The key to open it may be hidden under layers of silk."

"That sounds difficult…" Gonta muttered.

"Use the heard a bit more, will ya?" War Rock taunted.

"Wha~t?"

"So! That's supposed to be the safest place anywhere?" Misora asked.

"Correct."

"And not even "IQ" can get in without you knowing it?" Shidou deduced.

"Yeah. There are very few spots where it's safe to force an "opening" linking "real space" and "subspace", so I'm the only one who knows the exact physics needed to open those and let them inside. But they've never bothered to come here, either."

There was a sudden explosion sound coming off-screen: Vadous growled something and looked towards the rear.

"SIGMA! STOP DESTROYING MY TRAINING DRONES ALREADY~!"

"Boss! It wasn't me! We've got an intruder!"

"Impossible!"

"Not "impossible" at all when you lowlifes' tech is based on Mu's discoveries… I've heard Acid Ace's talk: Blood Shadow was a mere imitator. Where's the real Rock Man?" Burai's voice suddenly rang out close by.

"Even if I told you, he's not in a condition to battle anyone. Go back through the hole you opened, Burai!" Vadous grumbled.

"I decide that."

"Decide what? If you're gonna force the guy into a battle? Look, War Rock is at WAXA HQ to begin with and the guy hasn't done any real Wave Battles for a while, so it'd be totally unfair!"

"I don't care."

"What… You don't want to have a true battle instead of a stupid thing where you win at the first hit?"

"Hmpf."

"Oi! I asked you a question, didn't I? Can't you at least say "yeah" or "not" as an answer?"

"Where's Mars Warrior?"

"Omega, you mean? He's about to show you the way out."

"Yeah… The thirty-six bells of doom say you're fired, Burai~…" Omega's voice rang out.

"You lowlife. Fight seriously."

"Fine. But we don't wanna wreck this nice basement, so… Let's go fight in your _home field_."

"What "home field"?"

"Man… I thought you were sharper! The Mu Continent, I mean!"

"Fine."

"So let's go by the shortcut ya made up. Hra~h!"

There was a tackling noise followed by an unidentified sound and Vadous sighing in relief.

"That Burai… I'd never thought he'd be able to come all the way here! He hasn't been wasting his time, truly enough."

"Ya jerk! Show your hide! I'll beat ya up!" War Rock challenged.

"I'd rather think Ox will do better than me." Vadous sounded amused.

"Wha~t? Ox! Ya jerk! Ya are in league with that jerk!"

"Wrong!"

"Jerk!"

"Ugly!"

"Your hide!"

"Your tooth!"

"Whaddya say 'bout my tooth?"

"They're rotten!"

"Wha~t?"

"Stop it already!" Cepheus commanded.

Both fumed and looked away from each other while playing the offended: Misora caught glance of Vadous looking towards the room's ceiling but soon lowered his head.

"Well then… Enjoy!"

The transmission disconnected and Misora quickly looked upwards to see a figure attached to the ceiling: she gasped.

"W-who…?" She called out.

The figure quickly crawled across the ceiling and into an air duct: Misora quickly ran towards Shidou as he was trying to split Ox and War Rock apart.

"Akatsuki – san! Where does that duct lead to?"

"Huh? That duct…? Guess the SE side of the building one or two floors below this one, but…" He distractedly began.

She was already running out while everyone looked surprised.

"What? She forgot the guitar?" War Rock wondered.

"I don't think so! Misora – chan _always_ carries her guitar!" Gonta corrected.

"I'm going to follow her: it's picking me."

"The color of you-know-what?" War Rock teased.

"Ah. I should've seen it coming." Queen Tia muttered.

"O-oi! He's badmouthing me! I'm not that kind of guy!"

"Yeah? Prove it." Jack challenged.

"Oh! Clark Kent! Over there!" Shidou gasped and signaled the west side of the room.

Everyone turned to look at an employee working on a console.

"W-what?" He asked.

"Are you THE Clark Kent?" Everyone asked.

"N-no…"

"Wait, Clark Kent was a fictional guy, wasn't the guy?" War Rock suddenly brought up.

"Which means…" Dr. Yoiri began.

"The jerk ditched us!" War Rock growled.

"I expected it." Queen Tia calmly muttered.

"Yeah. Neechan sees through his cheap antiques." Jack shrugged.

"Will someone explain to me what's going on?" Cepheus asked with a hint of exasperation.

"I dunno, either." Ox admitted.

"I do not know." Cygnus confessed.

"Heh! That's something only humans care about but it's funny to pick on them like that!" War Rock laughed.

"Do not say anything else or there shall be consequences." Queen Tia coolly warned him.

"Sure."

"I am afraid I do not get the point." Cepheus muttered with a hint of confusion.

"… Crap! Ran away… You were right, after all!"

"I was and we should've thought of it sooner, too, Akatsuki – san!"

Harp Note and Acid Ace walked back in: they cancelled their Denpa – Henkan forms and sighed.

"There was a _ninja_ infiltrated here! He ran away somehow when we'd almost cornered him… I guess Vadous used him to have real-time info on our movements! He used magnetic gloves to crawl through the ceiling and snuck inside using the AC ducts!" Shidou grumbled.

"And he left a note saying "If ya wanna go for a thrill, search under the layers of silk"… But I dunno what he meant. His name is "Daratsu" from what was in the note, though." Misora added.

"Layers of silk… Maybe they mean some piece of clothing? Wait. Weren't you unconscious for several hours back when that "corpse" incident? Maybe there's something hidden somewhere in your clothes?" Shidou suggested.

"I could search." Queen Tia offered.

"No, I don't think we need to go that far. Let's try to see if we can pick up any signals close by." Shidou suggested instead.

"Ah. Fine."

"Eh… Queen Tia – sensei wouldn't, by chance, be…?" Misora asked.

"… Think what you want to." She calmly replied.

"Y-yes, ma'am…" Misora looked nervous.

"Huh? I don't get what's wrong." Harp frowned.

"… It's alright." Misora told her.

"If you say so…" Harp muttered.

"Oh! We're picking a distinct transmitter signal… Acid! Can't you narrow it down? We don't wanna have to… eh… to have some trouble around here with the matter."

"Roger."

Acid hovered close to Misora and emitted some waves: he then seemed to analyze the results and waited.

"The signal is close to the neck… I'd say the hood's upper edge…"

"Good. Allow me." Shidou requested.

"Sure."

Shidou took out a pair of scissors and cut away a small hole in the edge of the hood: he immediately found a small metallic spheroid set inside of the hood tied by the strings.

"Eureka! Let's analyze this ASAP!"

"The encoding is a military protocol… But our supercomputer can analyze that nevertheless." Acid reported.

"Huh? The signal's destination… It seems to be in orbit and moving faster than any satellite!" The Chief muttered.

"… The "ship" Moon Disaster saw… It's gotta be their HQ!"

"But reaching it can't be done just by using the Cosmo Wave… We'd need a rocket and a similar approach to what we did with Meteor G."

"Fine. It'll take some days, but we won't back up from any challenges!"

"Yeah! It's about time I shone." Gonta grinned.

"Oi, neechan…" Jack called out.

"… What?" She coldly asked.

"… N-nothing." Jack gulped.

"We're gonna show 'em the Satella Police are serious!" Shidou grinned.

"I shall rally all the Denpa – Henkan users: this will be a hard challenge."

"Subaru – kun… We're one step closer to ending this…!" Misora muttered.

The air was now boiling with excitement…


	20. Chapter 19: Prepare for boarding!

**Chapter 19: Prepare for boarding!**

09:05 AM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 20th…

"… Finally! We're getting closer! I'm about to charge out and blow them up!"

"That's not a wise thing to do, Ox Fire."

"Uh… Guess so…"

"If they look down on me, then they'll regret it!"

"I'll speed through them."

"I'll slice through them!"

"I'll bring them down with thunderbolts!"

"Buku! I'm gonna prove I'm a cool guy, too!"

"YO, YO, YO! This sounds thrilling!"

"I h-hope that we'll be a-alright…"

Ox Fire, Cepheus, Harp Note, Acid Ace, Wolf Forest, Crown Thunder, Cancer Bubble, Moon Disaster, and, lastly, Cygnus Wing were standing inside of a "Cybernetics" space somewhere: a radar screen displayed a large object close to their current position which was coming up from the left in an elliptical orbit.

"We'll make contact soon enough! Cepheus: remember to keep the rocket ready and attached to the ship so that we can send most of the guys back through it… The rest could try to use that portal machine…" Acid Ace reminded him.

"Roger."

"Attention: immediate contact! We're gonna enter the stealth field bubble of the ting!" Harp Note called out.

"Let's go~!" Ox Fire rallied.

"YEAH!"

"Contact… W-whoa~!"

"Whoa~!"

Everyone was awed when the screen's view shifted to display a behemoth moving towards the right in front of them.

"YO, YO, YO! It's the ship I saw!" Moon Disaster exclaimed.

The gigantic spacecraft had a main dome-shaped body with a small dome-shaped body built atop the first: the first dome's base was rather thick and large: some hatches could be seen on the sides of the circle which obviously were the docking bays.

Some spires which looked like they were made of glass were set on the first dome's surface to be right above the docking bays: the spires had three rings built around them along with a glass sphere on top of them.

There also were some rectangular view windows set above the spaces between each docking bay.

"That's gotta be close to 500 meters wide! Height: about 150 meters tall…! What's more: it doesn't have any visible propulsion system! This is incredible!" Acid Ace reported.

"Let's try entering one of those docking bays to board them!"

The rocket maneuvered and began to chase the spacecraft until it matched speed with it and stopped parallel to one of the oval-shaped hatches: a small device was set atop it.

"Oho. It has an "ACCESS" point to "Cyber – In" into its "Cybernetics", then? I'll go!" Acid Ace grinned.

He jumped inside of the "Cybernetics" which was a small square having a control panel: he examined it and inputted a command which caused for the hatch to slowly open.

"Go! Let's store the rocket inside! We can then use it to escape." Acid Ace suggested.

"Leave it up to me." Cepheus calmly replied.

The rocket slowly drifted inside.

The floor was just a giant platform suspended by steel columns on the borders.

The real floor, two meters below them, contained a set of fans which were currently stopped.

The whole room was about five or six meters tall and eight or ten meters wide.

"Oho. There are shuttles inside, too…" Ox Fire muttered.

Two shuttles were parked parallel to each other inside of the bay.

It looked aerodynamic and was colored silver: the shuttle had a front Plexiglas view window and two short wings and tail but it didn't seem to have any visible means of propulsion: entrance was gained through an open hatch on the left side of the body.

Several seats resembling those of normal commercial planes were set inside of the cockpit:

"Cool…" Harp Note muttered.

"Yeah. Let's split and try to find the command bridge." Acid Ace calmly suggested.

"I'll come with the A Team! Buku!" Cancer Bubble announced.

"I'll come with the A Team, too!" Wolf Forest exclaimed.

"So, B Team will be the other four except Cepheus. You should have some of the Battle Cards ready just in time. We'll be in contact."

"Roger."

"A Team: left! B Team: right! Go!"

A Team opened an armored door and exited into a small room which had another armored door labeled "DOCKING BAY #5" and two elevators doors on the north side: Acid Ace called for it and it immediately opened: they ran inside and Acid Ace examined the buttons.

"Eh… Docking Bays, 1st Deck, 2nd Deck, 3rd Deck… Guess we gotta get to the 3rd Deck to then find the Command Bridge's entrance."

"Sounds logical. Let's go."

"Buku!"

The elevator climbed in a silent manner and pinged upon reaching the 3rd deck: they stepped out into the curved metallic corridor with the armored doors showing up on both sides: the closest one, directly in front of them, was labeled "CENTRAL HUB".

"Central Hub…? Maybe that's the way to the Command Bridge… Let's check it out, you guys!"

"O. K.!"

The armored door automatically lifted upwards and another door two meters further in opened: they walked through it in a row and quickly stopped in the middle of their tracks.

"T-this is…!" Wolf Forest gasped.

The place they had stepped in was easily over several tens of meters tall and huge: it was a gigantic cylinder-shaped room which had several catwalks and stairs crossing across it from different heights and directions plus large fans set on the walls: the ground was a mere metallic grid which seemingly allowed a large bulk below it to expel heat: most of the room was unlit but the catwalks had fluorescent paint on the ground and handrails to mark them: the ceiling had two small metallic grids as well shaped like opposing halves of an hexagon.

"W-whoa! Guess this is a system to make shortcuts inside of the ship and to handle the main reactor's heat…" Acid Ace muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh… Welcome to Subspace HQ!" A voice rang out of nowhere.

"You aren't Vadous, right, ugly?" Acid Ace sarcastically asked.

"Yeah. My name's Kir Osh. I've been in charge of this place ever since we began this scheme. Wanna shake and rumble all morning long?"

"That sounds like Omega." Harp Note muttered.

"Yeah. True. Guess his humor is contagious:"

"What are ya up to?"

"Good question, truly, Holmes."

"I don't know any guys named "Holmes" to begin with."

"Heh, heh, heh. Pity."

"Why?"

"Ask Yoiri – hakase."

"Maybe I'll do that once we get back."

"Weren't you looking forward to checking out our portals? Why don't I treat you to some of them?"

"What?" Acid Ace asked.

One of those portals opened behind him and Harp Note thus sucking them in before it closed.

"Whoa!"

"Buku!"

Another opened behind Wolf Forest and Cancer Bubble thus sucking them up as well.

"Buro~! What's this?"

"I d-don't know!"

"YO, YO, YO! Looks bad!"

"Huh! Run for it!"

The four members of B Team, standing in a row atop another catwalk, found another portal opening in front of them: they got sucked in too.

"Let's greet our rumbling and shaking guests eager for a shakedown!"

09:19 AM (Japan Time)…

"… What the heck is this place? Another planet…?"

"I don't know, really…"

"Heh, heh, heh. These guys… Always dreaming of Mars!"

"This is a VR environment."

Acid Ace and Harp Note were standing in the midst of a mountain hill somewhere: the skies were clouded and a sharp cold wind blew downwards along the hill: some dead bushes, trees and large boulders could be seen set around the area seemingly at random: Sigma and Blood Shadow suddenly came out of nowhere.

"Where are the others?" Acid Ace demanded.

"Your two companions are trying to handle our two _ninja_ agents: Daratsu and Kuro Kaze. The "B Team" is handling Mr. Kir Osh and Sir Omega. Good luck to them." Blood Shadow calmly announced.

"Even if it's two versus one… They'll be in trouble." Harp Note muttered in a grim tone.

"Heh, heh, heh. Grim Man came?" Sigma joked.

"Dunno. Ask Clark Kent – sama since the guy is behind ya."

"Huh? Behind me…?"

"Behind us…?"

Both turned around as if trying to spot the guy: Acid Ace suddenly rammed into Sigma from behind while Harp Note took her guitar out and produced some shockwaves which hit Blood Shadow.

"Oof!"

"Grah!"

"Heh. Gotcha."

"Tee, heh, heh. Classical!"

"Can't believe…" Sigma began.

"… That we fell for this trick…!" Blood Shadow finished.

"Showdown!" Both Acid Ace and Harp Note challenged.

"Showdown!" The other two challenged back.

"Wing Blade!"

"Flash Spear X!"

"Demon Laser!"

"Mad Vulcan X!"

Acid Ace propelled himself forward using his jets while Sigma's eyes shone red and shot two continuous lasers which travelled across the ground and headed for Acid Ace: Harp Note jumped towards Blood Shadow to attack him but he countered: she, however, ducked, rolled to the right, and used one dead tree to bounce and hit Blood Shadow from the right: Blood Shadow groaned and stepped back while Acid Ace rammed into Sigma and they crashed against one of the boulders.

"Guah! This guy's fast!" Sigma groaned.

"Don't tell me…" Blood Shadow groaned.

"I'm not called "Ace" in vain, ya see."

"And I don't like being looked down, either!"

"Crap. What do we do, Blood?"

"Go at full power!"

"O. K.! Come at full power!"

"That's my motto, too!"

"Let's go!"

"No holding back!"

The two parties ran towards each other…

09:22 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Buku! These two guys are no joke!"

"Huff… Huff… And to think they aren't Denpa Bodies, either…!"

"My name's Daratsu and you can't even count how many attacks ya get 'cause I'm so terrifically fast."

"Same stuff over here… Name's Kuro Kaze and I move as swift as the wind like in the _fuurinkazan_…"

Cancer Bubble and Wolf Forest were facing two men clad in _ninja_ robes plus some kind of shades with integrated mechanisms.

Both looked close to a meter and eighty tall: their robes' chests had the letters "D" and "K2" colored purple set on them as if to tell them apart.

They carried _katana_ sheaths as well.

The environment was the midst of a forest somewhere.

"We carry "Barrier Generators" which allow us to take part in Wave Battles given how they count our "virtual" HP… And we're free to use any Battle Cards. In short: you're in trouble. My specialty is electrical attacks and I'm all ready to bring you trouble, Cancer Bubble - chan."

"Yeah. And mine is flame attacks, so werewolf – sama is in the middle of a big pinch." Kuro Kaze chuckled as well.

"Buku!" Cancer Bubble gasped.

"They did their research, huh…" Wolf Forest grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh. Inazuma Head X!"

"Machine Flame X!"

"Tidal Wave!"

"Moon Claws!"

Both got hit by the elemental attacks as they were about to attack: the opponents drew their _katana _blades and jumped towards them…

09:25 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Nice weather."

"W-what's with this one?"

"Don't ask me!"

"Thought Omega would be the only troublesome spot…? I can be a troublesome spot, too."

"Buro~! These guys…!"

"YO, YO, YO! They're terrible!"

Cygnus Wing and Crown Thunder looked beaten up as Omega stood in front of them with his arms folded and looked at the blue "skies" surrounding the small island in the middle of an ocean where they were standing at.

An armored man clad in armor similar to Vadous' but having a purple "K" Alphabet letter on his chest emblem was standing close by and facing Ox Fire and Moon Disaster.

"He j-just moved past us and was able to inflict so much damage using just the hands…!" Cygnus Wing groaned.

"Ugh… No joke…!" Crown Thunder groaned.

"Heh, heh, heh. Williard Whyte says you guys are fired."

"Even though it's 2 VS 1, this guy is able to counter all of our attacks…!"

"YO, YO, YO! I feel less optimistic by now…!"

"No wonder… Ya guys weren't expecting me to be able to battle two opponents at the same time, after all!" Kir Osh chuckled.

The skies suddenly clouded and some flashes of lighting could be seen: the air rumbled and tension seemed to increase.

"Let's go, Omega!"

"Let's go~!"

09:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Drill Arm X!"

"Guo~h!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Heh."

Harp Note was plunging a Drill Arm X into Blood Shadow's upper chest and he roared in agony: Acid Ace tried to ram into Sigma again but he stepped over a concealed Giga Mine and was sent flying: he landed, hard, on the ground and groaned.

"Shidou. We're almost at the limit." Acid warned.

"Not again…!" He groaned.

"Ugh… Grah… Agh… C-crap… B-but… I just don't feel like going all out on you, Harp Note…! I don't want to act like a rude person…!" Blood Shadow muttered as he clutched his wound.

"I don't mind, then."

"Ugh!"

Acid Ace's Denpa – Henkan was cancelled and Shidou collapsed into the ground along with Acid: Sigma panted but suddenly grinned and shoved Blood Shadow apart.

"I'll be your opponent! Come at full power!"

"Ugh… Don't overdo it, Sigma! Or else Boss will get mad…" Blood Shadow warned him.

"I know, Bloody Shadowy!"

"Not you too…"

"Heh, heh, heh. The thirty-six bells of doom say that we've got a VIP pass winner!" Sigma exclaimed.

"What? VIP pass winner…?" Harp Note wondered.

"What "VIP pass winner" are you talking about, Sigma? Sir Omega didn't say anything about that, ya know!"

"But I thought that SSII was…" Sigma began.

"No~! Absolutely NO! That place is wicked, Sigma! It's not a joke! Boss is gonna shut it down after "IQ" is brought down! No – one should ever step there: it's a terrific place! Now behave like a man!" Blood Shadow sounded rather annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry!" Sigma gulped.

"Do something _serious_! Battle or whatever!"

"O. K… Eh… Let's keep on!" Sigma tried to look confident.

"I dunno what that talk was about but it seems that you talk too much for your own good." Harp Note dully told him.

"Heh, heh, heh. Demon Rings! V2!"

"V2?"

Sigma extended his left hand: large blue pallid rings formed around Misora only to then suddenly diminish in size and grip her shoulders, middle torso and knees: she lost balance and collapsed into the ground while the rings emitted an electrical discharge.

"Kya~h!" She shrieked.

She suddenly lost consciousness while Sigma chuckled: Blood Shadow looked nervous and unsure.

"Oi, oi! What does this mean?"

"Don't worry! Boss told me this in person."

"Boss did? What's going on?"

"Don't worry! No harm will come upon this little girl…"

"It better so be it, or else…" Blood Shadow menaced.

"Oho. Scary, scary…" Sigma grinned.

10:02 AM (Japan Time)…

"… What happened?"

"I am not sure… I was waiting there when a portal opened and sucked the rocket up to then show up here… The others are…?"

"All except Harp Note have come back…"

"What could this mean?"

"Maybe they want her to meet the Boss…"

Cepheus was speaking with the WAXA Chief inside of the command room: only the two of them and the Chief's Wizard were present in the room.

"And meet Subaru so that she knows what he thinks of this whole operation as well… Or maybe he wants to gain a confident by telling her details which cannot be told over a transmission circuit…" Cepheus deduced.

"It seems logical. For the time being… There's nothing else we can really do… We've started analyzing the broken machine, but… It'll take AGES to figure out even HOW it works before trying to guess how we can duplicate it…" The Chief sighed.

"It is too early to lose hope. Let us wait 24 hours."

"Hum. That sounds more logical… Anyway… We should continue the investigation based on the info we collected at Kazimura Mansion. Something tells me we're on the verge of ending this affair."

"I shall check on the people."

"Go ahead."

Cepheus warped out of the room while the Chief sighed and looked tired: Daigo joined him and looked thoughtful.

_What's going on around here? Why do they conceal so many details about us if they intend to bring down a criminal? There's something eluding us, I'd say… Subaru… Misora – chan… Be strong, both of you!_


	21. Chapter 20: POW or Hostage?

**Chapter 20: POW or hostage?**

14:55 PM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 20th…

"… _Listen, kid. __You're not a POW. You're a hostage. The Geneva Convention is unrelated. No one will come here to help you out. I'll make you feel it at full blast! There's nothing to get worried about… Good. Should we begin? Well then: let's go!_"

_This one was creepy…! Let's go talk about it with Master…_

Albert descended downstairs and sat on the sofa in front of Lartes.

"Master…" He called out.

"Another memory…?" Lartes asked as he looked up.

"Correct, sir… It'd seem that I was once captured during that civil war era and that may be when I got the wounds… Or maybe the capture was just the prelude of that "S3 Scheme" to recreate "Shooting Star RM" whatever "RM" may mean, sir…" Albert exposed.

"I see… And this brings up again the reason why you're here… But they most likely will soon find they don't have enough funds to pursue such activities again and even less with the Satella Police pressuring them… So I'd say there's nothing to be worried about." Lartes told him.

"By the way… I've seen lights on the nocturnal skies which didn't look like stars or orbital satellites…"

"Ah. Those… They're part of a fleet of combat starships controlled from the mountain and transporting robot armies produced in SSIII's factories, you see… But we're slowly shutting those operations down since we don't wish to pursue them anymore." Lartes explained to him.

"I see… Ah. I still haven't been told what is on SSII…"

"… An underground city… But we're slowly vacating it and will end up dismantling it and recycling the materials, too. Look: those two projects were pushed by a villain who financed us but since we're gonna bring it down, then we don't wish to chase those projects anymore."

"What's the problem with the underground city…? Oh! Wait… It's meant to be the ultimate "criminal haven", maybe?"

"Correct. A hideout for them to operate from without being able to be caught… A vile place containing about 100 nefarious criminals… But we're relocating them to Earth in silence and then letting the Satella Police round them up… I won't go into details but you can get the general idea, Albert."

"I do, Master. What should we proceed with?"

"Well… Let's go work on target practice. Maybe something will come up along the way: motor skills sometimes are a hint of one's training or acts he was used to."

"Roger, sir."

Both headed upstairs and entered the gym room: Albert picked a fake gun and a pair of shades with mounted mechanisms: Real Wave targets formed on the air and arranged in a row of ten targets which began to spin clockwise: Albert calmly kept his pose and pressed the trigger once one of the targets came close to his position: a red marker in the shape of an "X" Alphabet letter formed on the center of the target and one score screen displayed 10 points: Lartes looked on while being seemingly interested.

_Obviously… His motor skills at aiming are good enough. I guess we'll have to start "releasing" some of the "real" memories soon but we'll need to go slowly so as to not to dizzy or confuse him… But I won't feel safe until we have confirmation that "IQ" has been brought down… Speaking of that, Boss told me he's close to executing the final phase of the strategy, so we won't have to wait too much… Well. Even if he returns to normal, spending three months here will have been a positive experience to him and I'm sure he won't mind coming back from time to time, too… _

"… Ah. I missed one and time's up… 90% this time around… I was close to a 100%!" Albert exclaimed.

Lartes merely smiled and looked satisfied…

15:03 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Misora! Wake up! Misora!"

"Hmmm?"

Misora yawned and slowly regained consciousness: she discovered that she was lying atop a bed in a largely unlit room: the bed was attached to the right wall and was right underneath a sealed window: some light entered through it and provided some illumination: she then spotted Harp hovering around her.

"Harp…? Where is this…?"

"I'd say it's that "Subspace" place that man talked about…"

"WHAT?"

Misora suddenly sat up and gripped the lower edge of the window to pull up and then look out through it: she could see a vast view of the ocean extending for kilometers and she had no trouble spotting the replica of the mansion.

"That's Kazimura Mansion…? No! It's the replica… Subaru – kun is in there! Harp! Are there any Wave Roads?"

"Yeah, but… I checked the control panel's "Cybernetics" to find out that it demands a verbal password. The only hint about is "reversal of roles" but I dunno about it." Harp replied.

"Crap…! And this glass is extremely thick… It's gotta be bullet-proof, even…!" Misora muttered as she banged it.

"Cool it down, Misora. Banging the glass won't do you any good."

"Yeah… True… Reversal of roles… Wait! I think I've heard Akatsuki – san mention something similar…"

Misora jumped down into the ground and ran towards the control panel adjacent to the door: she pressed a button and a speaker engaged: someone cleared his throat and then remained silent as it seemingly inhaled.

"WELCOME~!" The voice exclaimed.

"That's gotta be Omega's joking." She muttered.

"Tell me I'm a genius! Whose roles did I reverse last time around? Try to guess it, Bertie – chan!" He laughed.

"… Moon Ace and Acid Disaster!" Misora exclaimed.

"… Oho. So cleverly clever! Step in or out or go nowhere at all. Better yet: use the backdoor next time around. Heh, heh, heh!"

The door unlocked and both ran out before it auto-locked again: Misora found an elevator's door in front of her and pressed the call button: the doors opened and she quickly stepped inside to check the control panel with the floors.

"Let's see… B1F… 1F to 9F… 10F… I'm sure the Wave Road originates from 10F… And we're in 7F… O. K.! Let's go!"

The elevator quickly climbed upwards and pinged upon reaching the destination: Misora ran out and climbed a set of stairs into a round room with glass panoramic windows surrounding the walls: there was an empty revolving chair set on the middle of it and a Wave Station was placed next to the wall half-way up the set of stairs.

"Bingo. Denpa – Henkan! Hibiki Misora, On Air!"

Misora became Harp Note and then jumped into the Wave Road: she came outside of the observation room and spotted how the Wave Road formed a set of stairs and straight roads circling the whole mountain's height all the way to sea level: several high-speed connecting systems were set at the ends to allow for quicker travel.

"Good! Let's head for the mansion. I guess not even Vadous was expecting me to know the password." Harp Note grinned.

"But we shouldn't be over-confident. Maybe Omega has had time to get to the mansion, too."

"I'm not scared of the guy!"

Harp Note quickly headed for one of the high-speed connecting ends and was warped into a platform several tens of meters above the mansion's replica: she then stepped into a warp point to warp to a square just next to the 1st floor's windows: she dared a glance inside and spotted Albert practicing target shooting while being alone.

"There he is…!" She muttered.

She quickly came inside of the mansion and found a Wave Station in one storeroom: she was able to jump back to ground level and she snuck outta the room and into the main room where Albert was while making sure to lock the door behind her in silence.

"… Good! 100% score in 3 minutes 11 seconds… I'm managing to cut it closer! Guess I do retain motor skills from back then… I now feel strong enough to go and have those foreign guerilla guys pay for the harm they did to me and others…" Albert was muttering aloud.

"Hello." Harp Note greeted.

Albert gasped and whirled around while looking bewildered.

"A g-girl…? Eh… Why are you here?" He asked in a polite manner.

"I've come to meet you."

"… What? I don't remember you… Wait! Were you in the S3 Scheme, too…?" Albert asked.

"Eh… What was that again?"

"Oh. "Shooting Star Simulation"… A program to recreate someone named Shooting Star RM through VR training… I was part of it but I guess I never got to succeed… There was an accident when some gentlemen rescued me and others from there and some of my memories are missing… Others are being repressed to prevent PSTD, and if they get, to surface, they generally are just audio files with some "censorship"… Crap! I spoke too much and forgot to tell you my name: Kazimura Albert."

"I knew about you. But… I imagine that some of those "memories" are manipulations…"

"What? But I deduced I was being given special treatment because my father's research was misused… I even tricked Omega – san and Master into admitting what this business was about."

"… Ah… That's good, but… Oh. Eh… I'm Hibiki Misora, but I doubt you remembering about me…"

"Wait… Didn't you compose a song named "Shooting Star" once? It came up on my searches when I was looking "Shooting Star" up…"

"True. And "RM" stands for "Rock Man"… Shooting Star Rock Man."

"Shooting Star Rock Man…? So that's the full name of the "hero" the "S3 Scheme" was trying to imitate?"

"Look: do you know someone named Blood Shadow?"

"Blood Shadow? Yeah. I met him once."

"Didn't he strike as familiar somehow?"

"True!"

"That's because _he_ is the result of that "S3 Scheme"… His form, voice, face, height… Almost everything of him is copied from Rock Man's form but he is conscious of not being him."

"Then I guess I was a failed candidate, after all."

"No. You _are _the "original" hero, Rock Man!"

"What? Me? But I can't do anything cool or special! I mean…"

"That's because you don't remember about "Denpa – Henkan"…"

"What's that? Sounds like something taken outta a _manga_…"

"I am using Denpa – Henkan… Only a few people can: it's the process where a human and a Denpa Body fuse!"

"Denpa Body…? Like a Wizard…?"

"Yeah! But since this will get long, then I'll get to my point: you weren't any child soldier or anything like that."

"… No? If so… Can you explain _these_?"

Albert took off his sweated t-shirt and tossed it into the ground: Harp Note gasped and stepped back upon seeing his wounds.

"I d-don't know where they came from! You'd never had such wounds, Subaru – kun!"

"… Did you call me "Subaru"…? Is that… my original name…? The name I've been longing to know…?"

"Yeah! Hoshikawa Subaru – kun! You're a Satella Police collaborator and Rock Man: the hero who saved Earth _thrice_!"

"T-thrice…? I saved… the Earth… _thrice_…? W-whoa…"

He sat down on a bench while seemingly reeling at the new information: Harp Note glanced at the door but didn't hear any weird noises so she shrugged.

"… So… I have a family…? Friends…?"

"You have them! You have a lot of "Brothers", too! I was your very first one…"

"… So… What am I doing here, then?"

"You're being sheltered."

"Wait… Master spoke about a criminal financing some projects which they're now planning on cancelling… I'm being sheltered from that criminal, then?"

"Correct! All we know is that it goes by the alias "IQ", whatever that may mean, and that it has a "Secretary", too!"

"IQ… What kind of criminal is it?"

"I dunno the details, but it even went to the extreme of trying to shock me forever with a fake corpse… If it managed to capture us, then we could very well end up as corpses, too."

"Huh. Then I can't complain."

"Say, where's everyone?"

"Master suddenly went to discuss with Omega – san because he was outputting the sounds of the VR Room through the speakers to make me nervous… I guess they must be quarreling by now."

"… Where's Vadous?"

"Boss? Guess at the basement…"

"Blood Shadow and Sigma are there, too?"

"Dunno. I don't have access to the basement."

"Could be know we're doing this?"

"I dunno if this implant can be controlled in "live"… But if it was the case, he can see every experience I'm undergoing. And there are hidden cameras, too."

"Do you feel comfortable here?"

"… Since I can't remember how I used to live before…"

"Ah. Good point…"

"You wanna take me back right now? Sorry. But a sudden parting wouldn't satisfy me… I would like to have some days' time to see if I can bring myself together to say farewell to this place…" Albert sighed.

"I won't force you."

"Ah… Thanks, Hibiki – san."

"You can call me "Misora – chan" like you always used to do."

"… I'd like to, but… I've grown too used to my new "persona" to change so quickly… It'll take time." He admitted as he removed his shades and left them on the bench at his right.

"HRAH! HYAH! HA~H! GROA~H!" Omega's yells suddenly rang out.

"Omega! Stop it already! I was trying to find something and now you've made me lose concentration!" Lartes yelled.

"Tell that to Ms. Moon, Doc!"

"Your mean _Mr_. Moon Disaster!"

"Dunno!"

"I'm not falling for that again!"

"Call Clark Kent – sama via the hunt 'em all machine!"

"That wasn't funny!"

"It was…"

"Wasn't original, either…! Behave yourself!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Dr. House strikes back."

"I dunno who that is but be serious already! You just had a fight with two real opponents a few hours ago: what are you trying to blow up this time around?"

"The Abominable Snowman's ugly purple recycled hair and his not-so-manly voice…! Bwa, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

"Yeti Blizzard, huh…" Harp Note muttered.

"You know him? Or did I know him?" Albert looked up.

"You did and you beat him thrice."

"Whoa."

"… Wait a minute! My novel… You're the one who made it "disappear" just like that! Weren't you, Omega?"

"Heh, heh, heh… It might've been the case."

"Che! I know where you put in: below my bed! We'll talk later about this: now I have to tend to Albert's training!"

"Bertie – chan's gonna date the sleeping beauty atop Mt. Control I'd daresay!" Omega laughed.

"Shut up."

"Sleeping beauty atop Mt. Control… So he was expecting me to be still sleeping…" Harp Note calmly muttered.

"Omega – san is fond of teasing me with such things…" Albert admitted with a sigh.

"Guess that's preferable to other things…" Harp Note muttered.

"So! Albert… How are things over there…? Ops."

Lartes had stepped in while looking at an open book on his right hand: he looked up and immediately seemed concerned.

"Master. 100% in 3:11…" Albert reported.

"Harp Note…? I knew you were in Mt. Control, but I thought you were still sleeping… Wait. How did you get out if the doors are password-protected? Boss tends to place idiomatic expressions on them…" Lartes frowned.

"Pure luck! Omega had changed it for a pun he played on Akatsuki – san and I happened to know it."

"Omega… You bothersome white hat…" Lartes grumbled.

"Master. It'd seem you'd known my true name ever since the beginning yet you didn't tell me, sir."

"… It was an element of caution. Look: we've gone to extreme ends to make one thing clearly believable at a superficial glance… You're a person who has absolutely no relation to Hoshikawa Subaru."

"And these wounds were to reinforce the "child soldier" tale?"

"True. We had a very heated debate when we were brainstorming on how to tackle this strategy but, in the end, we didn't find any other way around it… We are sorry, but we were scared. We really were."

"No wonder… If "IQ" went to such ends with the fake corpse, that was a clear indication of how grim things could end up like." Harp Note calmly muttered.

"True."

"So, is "IQ" a man on his sixties?"

"No. A _woman_ on her thirties." Lartes confessed.

"And what does "IQ" mean, then?"

"English. _Ice Queen_. _Koori no Joou – sama_." Lartes told them.

"Ice Queen… And the "Empire" people know that?"

"No. They think it's an irony and take the literal meaning which is "Intelligence Quotient"… Which is a way of saying it's an extremely clever person… Clever it truly is but it uses its intelligence for sinister ends. Both Boss and I are the result of those." Lartes grumbled.

"That criminal took you in and tried to make ruthless persons out of you two, sir?" Albert asked.

"… Yeah. You can say that. But we quickly grew tired to having a serve a caprice – filled despot tyrant… So we've been plotting how to bring them down for about one year by now… Then, suddenly, the three incidents happened in a row: the FMs' invasion, the Mu Continent and Meteor G also did… "Rock Man" became famous in a breeze and "IQ" began to gain an interest to use his demise as the way to plunge the general populace's morale down and try to set them up with some large-scale hoax… Harp Note… Have you heard of the "Brain Power Medicine" which was the rage in some circles as recently as two months ago?" Lartes explained before addressing her.

"Yeah. Someone at Okudama Studios suggested we should use those but then it was proven they were "placebo-effect" medicines which did nothing and were a hoax…" Harp Note admitted.

"Well then, she only saw a "business chance" into causing the general morale to plunge."

"What the… Plunging uncountable persons into depressions just to sell a fake medicine…? That person is mad!" Albert exclaimed.

"Of course. Like all tyrants and despots. They live obsessed with being the "white" pieces of the chess board and everyone else is so expendable."

"Then… This was going to end one day?" Albert asked.

"Of course. Once "IQ" is arrested by the Satella Police… But it will take time to slowly "release" your true memories and for you to reintegrate with everyone… Look, Albert… No. Subaru. We went to extreme ends knowing the consequences beforehand but it was all for the sake of protecting you because you deserved it. You defended Earth thrice and never asked anything but smiles on peoples' faces in return."

"You may call me Albert still, Master… I don't feel like returning to my old self yet… Hibiki – san…"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"If you know my friends and parents, then… Please tell them I'm alright but I'm not ready to come back yet. I know they must've been worried and such, but…" Albert requested.

"Don't worry: they all are aware of the situation, so…"

"I see. So… What's the plan?"

"Boss prepared everything back when his last visit at Ice Queen's mobile HQ… The critical part will be releasing the imprisoned people there."

"Mobile HQ…? A ship…?" Harp Note asked.

"Not really… A space-castle… Built upon a former asteroid, concealed by stealth, and sneaking around the known Universe… While untold horrors happen within its metallic sterile rooms each day… It's the _Naraku_ itself, even… And the madness going on inside of that place has to be put to an end no matter what." Lartes sighed.

"Then…" Harp Note began.

"No. The Satella Police will just wait on Earth since the "Palace" will then be hijacked to be landed on Earth and never lift off again. Without any hostages to try to fend them off with, the Wizards and Special Forces should be able to round the "crew" without too much trouble. No – one but the adults should see what terrors lurk in there. It is the best possible method." Lartes countered.

"… Guess so." Harp Note shrugged.

"Harp Note. I'll lead you to the portal machine and you should be returning to Earth to report this info to the Satella Police. We expect our strike to place, as we said, in about 14 days. I'm sorry for Sigma's sudden behavior, but it's true that we wanted you to meet Albert and have some interactions with him." Lartes sighed.

"I understand and… Wait."

Harp Note suddenly stared at Lartes for a while and then at Albert: she blinked and seemed to find something out of place.

"… Nothing. I'll ask later since I guess this is not the right time to ask about that stuff…" She finished.

"Let's go, shall we, Misora?" Harp asked.

"Yeah. See you, eh… Albert – kun."

"Please be careful, Hibiki – san… And thank you."

"You're welcome."

Harp Note and Lartes walked out while Albert walked over to the windows and looked out towards the skies.

"… I realized who I am, yet… I don't know yet if it'll be possible for me to return to the person I was. Three months is a large period of time… Guess it'll take several months, but… I will get used back to everything. Yet… I wouldn't mind coming back here from time to time and training… I'm truly getting stronger, so…" He muttered aloud as if reflecting.

He then headed for the bench and sat down there with a sigh.

_So, that's how I've ended up like? I was a warrior but I've been "reborn" into an apprentice? Well… That doesn't sound too bad, you know. I'll become stronger… for the sake of those who believe in me… _

"… Bertie~…! Come at me~!" Omega joked off-screen.

Albert formed a smug smile and looked amused at the joke, for once…


	22. Chapter 21: Anticipation

**Chapter 21: Anticipation**

15:58 PM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 20th…

"… Hello! Everyone!"

"Harp Note! You're alright!"

"Yeah. I bring news."

"Tell us!"

Harp Note showed up in the WAXA HQ's main room and everyone looked surprised at her sudden appearance: they looked eager to hear the news out.

"Well! To begin with… I talked with "Albert – kun" for a while."

"Oh! What did he say?" Daigo asked.

"He was led to believe some complicated tale which he thought he'd partly uncovered himself, but, point is… He didn't remember almost anything he did as "Subaru – kun"… He asked me to transmit a message: he doesn't feel like coming back all of a sudden and wants some days to think about it." Harp Note summarized.

"That's something… Did any of the adults intervene?"

"Dr. Lartes came in and revealed some details: Omega was busy enough trying to best a VR Yeti Blizzard and trolling at the same time. I didn't see Vadous, not even when Dr. Lartes escorted me to the basement: I guess he was elsewhere working on the details for the plan."

"Did they elaborate on "IQ", too?" Shidou questioned.

"Yeah. To sum it up: its name is "Ice Queen" and, like the name suggests, it's a woman on her 30s. She is a mad despot whose only real gain in going to such grim ends would be trying to stage a worldwide hoax on "miracle medicines" which work on "placebo-effect" given the large depression rate everywhere. I guess that's a sufficient example of its madness."

"Huh. Yeah, yeah… Keep on." Shidou gulped.

"This woman hides on a mobile "palace" which is described as "the _Naraku_ itself", so that's pretty much of a hint regarding what happens inside of it… Vadous plans on, somehow, getting all prisoners out before forcing the thing to land on Earth somewhere for the Satella Police to storm: the Special Forces and Wizards will be necessary."

"Good. But we shouldn't lower the guard: that "Ice Queen" seems desperate enough to go to any ends… Luckily, the vigilance on Kodama Town has reported nothing out of place and strict controls were implanted to make sure substitution is not possible." Shidou agreed on it.

"Apparently, the only one who can track that thing right now is Vadous, but it'd seem that "Ice Queen" is far from Earth right now and is seemingly not paying attention to what's going on here."

"Excellent, then. We can ease up tension and free some resources now that we know how thing work in here." The Chief looked pleased.

Misora calmly cancelled her Denpa Henkan form and looked like she was trying to avoid Queen Tia's glares: Queen Tia seemed more focused on talking over something with Jack on the background, though.

"What's wrong, Misora?" Harp asked.

"… Nothing. Don't mind it, Harp." Misora smiled at her.

"… By the way, since there's no big deal going on… I'll go stock on "Sweet Candy" at Kodama Elementary. I'll soon become the VIP member of the "Sweet Candy Club", ya see." Shidou suddenly announced.

"That doesn't sound healthy, Shidou." Acid whispered.

"Why the hush-hush?"

"You know why, Shidou."

"Akatsuki. You intend to grow fat in front of me?" Queen Tia coldly asked of him.

"Crap."

"I warned you."

"Yeah. And you'll say "he who warns a traitor is not" next, right?"

"Why do you need to be so hostile?"

"Dunno!"

"Calm down."

"Yeah. By drinking tea, you mean?"

"Maybe."

"Lawyer guy…"

"I am not a lawyer."

"Akatsuki! Don't play dumb with me again." Queen Tia warned.

"You… Are you plotting something?"

"Am I not powerless?"

"True. Forgot that."

"Hmpf."

"O-oi, neechan… You look scary." Jack called out.

"Jack. Go outside. This involves me and this man."

"S-sure…" Jack gulped.

"By the way! You wouldn't be thinking of… you know?" She questioned.

"N-no way!" Jack gasped.

"Then it's fine."

"Che. Neechan knows everything." Jack grumbled.

"Jack."

"I know!" He complained.

"Crap." Shidou muttered.

"There's no escape, Akatsuki!"

16:07 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh. So Harp Note came and they talked… I'd totally forgotten about her, truth to be told. I was busy up-linking Black Ace with "Red Joker", the program I sneaked inside of the "Palace"… Omega was helpful, for once, even…"

"Yeah. They won't be pressuring us anymore, so we can totally focus on that front. Albert wishes to stay still to start getting used to how he used to be, but no problems over there as long as we are careful and delicate when releasing the suppressed memories…"

Vadous and Lartes were talking inside of the command room in the basement of the replica mansion: Vadous had taken out the mask and helmet and looked somewhat sleepy while Lartes was calmly standing next to him.

"Fine. I've checked up with Mr. Denpa, but, insofar, there's no big movement in Ice Queen's ugly businesses. If she was active and looking for new "investments", then it'd be noticeable ASAP."

"Yeah… She moves money around and sends her thugs to scare people off to force them to take part into her "investment"…"

"Anyway… Let's make sure Blood draws enough attention to keep her eyes fixated on him and away from us. But she's obsessed with thinking that we're her pawns, so she won't see it coming."

"True. Go back upstairs and check on Albert: I'll start working on releasing his memories and you supervise his evolution…"

"Roger."

"Zombie Land says Zombie – sama will come for your brains!" Omega's pre-recorded voice rang out.

"What the…"

"That's so silly!"

"Omega – sama wins this round!"

16:15 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Bertie~! Did you recall your first love~?"

"You mean to say my first "friend", Omega – san."

"Heh, heh, heh. Admit it. Hibiki turns you nervous."

"I do not see the point, sir."

"That sounds like…"

"How many times do I have to say it, sir? I am not a lawyer, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh… Fine, fine… So?"

"So what, sir?"

"Aren't you gonna go out with her on a date?"

"I do not think it'd be possible unless we used the Wave Roads or found a secret spot, sir. Hibiki – san is a famous idol."

"And ya are also famous, ya know."

"I did not know, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. So? Who will it be? Iinchou – sama? Hibiki – sama?"

"… Crap."

Albert was sitting in one of the benches inside of the training room and reading some information using a Hunter – VG while Omega was teasing him: Albert looked unimpressed until Omega placed a trap question and grinned at it.

"Heh, heh, heh. Choose carefully… Iinchou may go to desperate ends like Dia Iceburn…" Omega teased.

"I do not remember that, but it doesn't sound good, sir."

"Of course not… The crazy girl wanted to freeze everyone in place."

"Huh. Then I should be glad I could stop her somehow before a greater catastrophe took place…"

"Heh, heh, heh. So?"

"But… Given Iinchou – san's status…"

"Ah… High-class stuff, I see… Well then… Hibiki – sama is all yours to go and create a singing duo." Omega chuckled.

"That cannot be…" Albert groaned.

"By the way… Don't you think you look more… _attractive_… with your new look?" Omega teased.

"No way…"

"Yeah… Silver hair, blue eyes… And those scars give you an irresistible air of mystery… Heh, heh, heh. Wanna practice _flamenco_ with me?"

"I am not in need of it to defend myself, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh… We'll see 'bout that…"

"Omega. What have you come up with now?" Lartes demanded as he stepped into the room.

"Ask Dr. Who."

"No need to. I know everything."

"Oho. Dr. Encyclopedia strikes back?"

"Stop making up nonsensical titles."

"Sure, Dr. House IX."

"I'm about to get angry."

"Oho. Then I'm gonna tell Mr. Behemoth to sink into the depths of the Pacific Ocean with a whimper… Heh, heh, heh."

Omega tiptoed outta the room while Lartes fumed: Albert looked thoughtful, though.

_Will I be accepted as I am or do I need to change radically…? I'm not sure if they'll see me as the friend they used to know…_

16:19 PM (Japan Time) …

"… So? Why did you call us to my house?"

"I've got good news!"

"What news?"

"Subaru – kun is coming back!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! I knew it!"

"But keep it secret!"

Misora had met with Luna, Gonta and Kizamaro inside of Luna's apartment: everyone looked rejoiced at the fact.

"By the way, Luna – chan… I know you were the one who made Gonta – kun look into Albert – kun but it's thanks to him that we were able to push our investigation forward. You see, Albert – kun is Subaru – kun."

"WHA~T?" Luna uttered.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Mode muttered.

"NO WAY~!" She shrieked.

"Uh-oh." Both Gonta and Kizamaro gulped.

"Sorry. But it's the reality, Luna – chan."

"Cha…! How dare cha…!" Lune looked annoyed.

"Oh! Iinchou! I just remembered: you had an appointment with the student council, didn't you?" Kizamaro brought up.

"Yeah! It's gonna be in 10 minutes' time, too!"

"No way! I'm not going to be late to such an important appointment! We'll talk about this later!" Luna gasped.

She ran off the house while the other three sighed in relief: they also came out while looking relieved.

"Good call, Kizamaro – kun… It'd seem Luna – chan is somewhat envious that Subaru – kun did recover my purse back when we met in Shiisaa Island…" Misora sighed.

"Iinchou is rather predictable, fortunately enough." Kizamaro admitted with a smile.

"The word "student council" can make her react 95% of times." Pedia quoted.

"Yeah. 'Cause iinchou is obsessed with that…" Gonta shrugged.

"Buro~! And ya wanna make sure Hoshikawa doesn't get ahead of ya, Gonta?" Ox asked.

"Eh… N-not really, but…"

"Heh, heh, heh." Kizamaro looked amused.

"Huh? Who…?" Misora gasped.

She suddenly looked towards a nearby car which ran off: she looked suspicious of it.

"Hmmm… That car… Two persons onboard… It looked suspicious in my opinion, really! Harp! Did you see its registration plate?"

"Eh… Yeah. I saw it."

"Good. We should hurry and tell this to Akatsuki – san: it may be one of Mr. King's agents." Misora suggested.

"O. K."

"Lemme escort you, Misora – chan!" Gonta requested.

"No, Gonta – kun. Your duty is to protect Luna – chan and Kizamaro – kun: do you get it?"

"Uo~h! I'll protect iinchou with my life!" Gonta exclaimed.

"And count me in, too!"

"Good! Later!"

16:24 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Bloody Shadowy! There's something waiting for ya in the storeroom…"

"… What, mice?"

"Heh, heh, heh. _Check it out_!"

Blood Shadow had come out of one room only to find Sigma waiting for him in the corridor: he looked amused before he ran off but Blood Shadow seemed to be suspicious.

"Let's settle this already." He muttered with a hint of annoyance.

He entered the storeroom and found nothing but a printed photograph which had been flipped face-down: Blood Shadow picked it with the left hand and checked it.

"… What the… A zombie trying to suck my blood off…? What silliness, really! I don't have "blood" to begin with. I may be called "Blood Shadow" but that's because my armor color is crimson, also known as "blood red", so… There's no point in this child-like thing." He grumbled.

"Bloody Shadowy~! BRAINSSSSSS!"

"Yikes!"

Blood Shadow turned around to find Sigma leaning on the threshold of the room and laughing in a hysterical manner.

"Bwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h! Ya fell for it, Bloody Shadowy~! This is gonna be so fun…! Wait 'till _Danna_ gets a hold of it! Hilarity will ensue~! We're gonna have a thrill, ya see~!" Sigma laughed.

"… I'm gonna talk with Boss about this: he who laughs last laughs better, so we'll see who'll it be, Sigma." Blood Shadow coolly replied.

"Sure, Cool Man!"

"Oh. Shut up."

Sigma kept on laughing while Blood sighed in defeat…

16:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Roger. By your orders, sir… Over."

"So?"

"We're to make a move whenever a chance appears."

"Good. Mr. Secretary will surely reward us well."

"But his orders were very strict: no contact. Else…"

"Yeah. Not like I'm gonna complain, though."

Two men on their thirties wearing black suits, sunglasses and hats were talking inside of a car travelling across a highway somewhere: they looked over a meter and eighty tall both.

"Fine. And they will blame Mr. King for it, anyway, so there's no chance of them realizing about our organization. And if I could bet, I'd say Mr. Secretary will personally supervise the whole thing. So we've gotta behave like they expect outta us." The driver told the passenger.

"Sure thing. Let's go hang out at the usual place and have some _udon_ this evening. Then we'll have to check the "recruiting agency" to see if there's any other guy who's qualified enough to be worth of being hired." The passenger suggested.

"Heh. And once those two brats are removed from the way, our biggest business ever will take place. We'll get a huge increase in our salaries and enjoy the thrill which will come with them… Maybe we could even go to the Caiman Islands and spend some time in a 5-star hotel." The driver looked amused.

"Terrific. As expected of Mr. Secretary… His plans are flawless and we will always be proud of serving such an intelligent man. Heh, heh, heh."

"You know the motto: "all for the sake of the organization"…"

"Yeah. Victory will be ours!"

Both men laughed aloud in a creepy tone of voice…


	23. Chapter 22: Resolution

**Chapter 22: Resolution**

08:08 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 4th…

"… Well?"

"Nothing out of the usual… Nice scenery, though."

"Yeah… The good point of working in this place…"

Two of six men working with some control consoles somewhere were talking to each other: they looked on their 30s, wore black jumpsuits, and were bald: they seemed to be from foreign countries as well.

The room was metallic and had a circular shape: a circular viewing window was set directly above the consoles and allowed one to witness the vastness of outer space: the ceiling had fluorescent lights set on it and the center of the room had a spiraling metallic stair descending to another level.

"Hmmm…? This signature…?" One wondered.

"What?"

"The particle detector… Energized ions are starting to increase in numbers, it says…"

"Crap. Don't tell me…" Another gasped.

The whole room frizzled with blue static electricity all of a sudden as a pallid stream of charged particles hit the structure: all lights and switches suddenly went off thus leaving the room mostly unlit expect for the pale halo of the stream.

"Ion storm! Luckily, the life-support systems have such elevated shielding and redundancy that no harm can come upon them… But the main reactor entered emergency stop mode and emergency battery-powered lighting came up in the corridors and rooms… This thing cuts down our constant speed, too, so it gives us the sensation that we aren't moving…"

"Guess we can't do anything else but to wait for the storm to dissipate but that doesn't take more than 10 minutes…"

"Let's check with the decks using the interphone… East Detention Block, this is Control Bridge. Are you alright? Over." A third man pressed a button and called out to someone.

Silence lingered through the room and the men seemed to be getting nervous by it.

"Eh… Maybe it's broken. West Detention Block, this is Control Bridge. Are you alright? Over."

There was no response, either, and anxiety could be tasted as it built up inside of the room.

"… East Storage Block, this is Control Bridge. Are you alright? Over."

"W-what's going on? I don't like this!" A fourth man gasped.

"Cool it down. Maybe the circuits got fried." A fifth suggested.

"Oh… Could be, true…"

"West Storage Block, this is Control Bridge. Are you alright? Over."

"… No reply… What do we do?"

"Calm down! Maybe we'll find another way to communicate."

"… Hum… Main Reactor Control, this is Control Bridge. Are you alright? Over." The operator tried next.

"… Control Bridge? Eh… We've got trouble…" A man replied.

"What?"

"Eh… Hum… I'm a novice at this, but… Eh… I guess it _isn't_ normal for the main reactor room's door lock to be melted and the frame sealed with concrete, right?"

"What in the… That's impossible!"

"O~w… Control Bridge? East Detention Block… You're not gonna believe this, guys." Someone reported next.

"What, what? What's going on today?"

"Shut up."

"T-the holding cells…! They're _open and empty_! _All of them_!" East Detention Block reported.

"Impossible!"

"I know! I dunno what happened! But at the very second the light went out… Something invisible attacked us all and knocked us out! They've then taken our card-keys and triggered emergency lock release!"

"Control Bridge! This is West Detention Block! Same thing over here!"

"Control Bridge….! T-this is E-east S-storage B-Block! The storage room is _empty_!"

"S-same t-thing o-over h-here, g-guys…!"

"Control Bridge! This is Docking Bays!"

"What's going down there now?" One of the controllers demanded.

"W-well! The shuttles were making strange noises: I checked them and found that their navigational software and OS don't work anymore!"

"By all the…"

"Control Bridge! This is Main Lab!"

"What's up this time around?"

"The "root" user has been denied access into the system: it's been downgraded into a "regular" user! I can't control anything over here no matter what I do!"

"B-but…! How much time has passed ever since…?" One of the controllers asked.

"Huh… Five minutes?" Another ventured.

"What the… All these incidents have been triggered simultaneously and there must be both "cybernetic" and human agents involved! And this can't be done outta the blue: it was schemed!"

"… Control Bridge. What is the motive for such scandal?" Mr. Secretary's icy voice suddenly rang out.

"Mr. S-Secretary, sir! We are suffering a string of sabotage incidents! I believe our flight path has been altered and strictly timed so that we'd meet this ion storm: the blackout has provided them with the perfect scenario to operate, sir!" One controller reported.

"What?"

"We have no prisoners, their belongings are gone, we cannot operate the shuttles, the main reactor's only access is sealed and we cannot use the main lab, sir!" The controller listed.

"What in the… Just who could do this? It can't be the Satella Police: they shouldn't know of our existence! All reports point that they're busy trying to unravel the extent of Mr. King's fortune!"

"Huh? Oh! The ion storm is starting to dissipate, sir!" Another controller reported.

"Good. Now that the light will return, we will be able to figure out with calm what's going on."

There were a series of increasing humming sounds echoing throughout the structure and the lights returned as the ion storm faded and vanished: bells began to ring out of nowhere, though.

"Bells…?" One controller wondered.

"Weird. I'm sure we didn't program anything like that." Another muttered while sounding puzzled.

"Huh? E~H? T-this is…!" A third controller gasped.

"What's going on?" Mr. Secretary questioned.

"A new flight path has been uploaded into the navigational computers but we didn't do it, sir!"

"What? What's this flight path? Where does it lead us to? More importantly: who uploaded it?"

"Well… I am not sure about who did it, but… We're going to use our wormhole generator to make a max-speed trajectory to _Earth_! And we _will_ get there in barely 10 minutes…! But I can't override the flight path: the computer insists that it's vital for the "survival" of the "Palace", sir!"

"That's impossible…! What other details are there?"

"Huh… The target is intended to be somewhere in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan… A valley which is about 30 kilometers SSW of the closest inhabited location…"

"This sounds very strange… Unless…" Mr. Secretary trailed off.

"Wormhole generator: currently loading! 46% loaded… Estimated time for full loading… 2 minutes 38 seconds… I cannot abort: the computer insists once again that it's "vital" for our survival!"

"_The devil_! I've realized why they want us to land there… The Satella Police Special Forces will be waiting there to storm us! And they'll bring Battle Wizards, along, too…!" Mr. Secretary cursed.

"E~H?" Everyone gasped.

"Do something!"

"If the main reactor weren't sealed, we could manually override the energy load-up and discharge it into the space, but… We've got no tools to break through concrete!" One controlled reported.

"_Hell_! They predicted it! I'll try to contact for someone to give us a hand, though… Wait! Couldn't we use the emergency generator to cancel the main reactor and thus abort the energy load-up?" Mr. Secretary suddenly suggested.

"We'd thought of it, but its door is also sealed up!" The controller argued back.

"No way! There's _nothing_ we can't do, then? Nothing?"

"Nothing, sir…! All alternatives are out of our reach, sir"

"No good!" Mr. Secretary gasped.

"… 88% loaded… 15 seconds left…!"

"Useless! The console won't accept any commands!"

"Can't we cut off this bothersome bell noise?"

"The thirty-six bells of doom have finished counting! Ms. Moon tells ya guys you're fired!" A familiar pre-recorded voice announced.

"That voice…! I've heard it somewhere before…!" Mr. Secretary muttered while sounding suspicious.

"… Loading complete…! Wormhole is about to open…! Close the blinders to avoid faster-than-light travel sickness!" The controller ordered.

"The only thing which still works… The blinders…"

Metallic blinders began to lower while a loud humming sound echoed around the room: a hologram formed on the middle of the room to display Earth and one spot marked in red which seemed to be the intended target.

"Wormhole opening complete…! We're jumping…!"

"No…! Is this going to end like this…?" Mr. Secretary gasped.

The whole structure seemed to rumble for a few instants to then seemingly accelerate forward: all controllers plucked their seatbelts and looked totally pale by now.

"We're travelling…! 8 minutes to destination… Since it takes about three minutes to descend through the atmosphere, then we're going to exit into Earth's outer atmosphere in about 5 minutes…!"

"The Allies of Justice, the Super Men Club, have brought ya bad guys down 'cause ya were unmoral to begin with, ya see."

"The Super Men Club…?" One wondered.

"That voice… I'm sure I've heard it before but it's trying to camouflage itself using Kansai dialect!" Mr. Secretary muttered.

"… No response." A distorted voice announced over the line.

"What? Eh… The emergency number…?" Mr. Secretary politely asked to the other voice.

"… No response, either. Both read out as "non-existent"… It would be wise to try Mr. Denpa."

"Please leave it to me… At least the FTL communication systems still work as they should…"

"Then?"

"No response, either…! But… How could the Satella Police do this in just one day…?" Mr. Secretary wondered.

"Decapitation. They have been creating a smokescreen over them and waiting to remove all the major players to bring upon the collapse of the businesses… Bothersome clever people!" The distorted voice grumbled with clear anger.

"3 minutes to exit wormhole…!"

"Didn't we carry weapons onboard?"

"But they're tranquilizer model, as per your orders… None of those will work against Special Forces and Battle Wizards…"

"Curses."

"2 minutes…!"

"Do something!" The voice commanded.

"IQ – sama! We are doing all we can!" The controllers pleaded.

"I am sorry, IQ – sama, but there is nothing any of us can do anymore… It would seem this is the end."

"No! My empire was to last forever! It was magnificent, glorious and unrivaled…! No! It cannot end like this!" The voice gasped.

"I am afraid History repeats itself…"

"55 seconds…!"

"Deceleration began two minutes ago and we're steadily reducing speed while the atmospheric re-entry shield is already loaded…! 20 seconds to exit…!"

"My empire! My glory! My fortune! They cannot be… brought down so easily…! I am invincible!" The voice cursed.

"Real-space transition… NOW!"

The structure jolted and then began to move downwards at a steadily decreasing rate: the hologram shifted to show a bird's eye view of the approaching island of Honshu: the Fukushima Prefecture area's borders were highlighted in red.

"2 minutes 11 seconds to touch-down…!"

"Ah! But all doors are still locked and we can manually control them from the inside… It will take them time to force their way inside! Not all is lost, then! We can ambush them and steal their weapons to fight back! I am a genius!" The voice suddenly exclaimed.

"True!" Mr. Secretary sounded relieved.

"1 minutes 44 seconds to touch-down…! We can confirm about forty humans gathered 100 meters of the touch-down spot and about double that number of Wizards…!"

"Forty VS a crew of a crew of 30… But the Battle Wizards will be the main problem…" The voice muttered.

"Speed has fallen below 30 km/h by now…! The barrier has already been deactivated and only 1 minute and 15 seconds are left for touch-down by now…!" The controller reported next.

"All staff: assume battle positions! We're going to barricade ourselves here: we've got even more supplies to use given how we don't have the forty or so prisoners…" The voice commanded.

"10 km/h and 39 seconds to touch-down…!"

"Showdown!" Mr. Secretary rallied.

"Showdown!" The crew confirmed.

"2 km/h and 22 seconds to touch-down…! They've closed in by 25 meters now…! They look ready to make a move the very moment the reactor halts and the residual heat disappears…!"

"Even if they are Battle Wizards, they're weak! Any object like chairs or doors could be used to delete them!" Mr. Secretary rallied.

"… 1 km/h and 08 seconds to touch-down…! 500 m/s and 5 seconds…! 250 m/s and less than 2 seconds…! Touch-down! I repeat: touch-down into Earth! The gravity generators are keeping us afloat 2 meters over the ground while the remaining speed clocks down!"

There were a series of quick beeps and the hologram shifted to show a 3D image of what seemed to be a five-tower-steel-castle built atop a large stalactite-like rock about a hundred meters large: the castle had two short towers, two middle-height towers and the central taller tower: eight reactor muzzles were placed close to the lower end of the rock forming a circle plus a ninth one directly underneath: a large round hatch was set about ten meters beneath the upper edge of the rock too.

"What's up?" One wondered.

Some red spots showed up all across it while a loud decreasing hum rang out followed by a violent hit, some tremors, and the room inclining about 10º towards the north before stopping.

"What in the… The main generator shut down so we hit the floor and are now leaning against a nearby mountain's wall…! And all doors have switched to "OPEN" position while getting locked there! What! Blue screen of death…!" The controller reported.

"N-no way!" Mr. Secretary gasped.

"This is Docking Bays! The outer airlock has opened, too, and the Real Wave access ramp has been deployed, too! They're heading inside as I speak, guys!" Someone reported through the interphone.

"Impossible!"

"U… Ua~h!" The voice shrieked.

"The main elevator…! They'll pick the main elevator to B1F, and from there, the secondary elevator into 1F! They can then access "Game Towers" 1&2, "Crew Towers 3&4", and "Central Tower 5, containing Mr. Secretary's and IQ – sama's room plus our Command Bridge…! We're doomed!" One controller frantically exclaimed.

"B-break in into East Detention… Ua~h!"

"West Detention Block has… Ga~h!"

"Main Lab has been… Aie~h!"

"West Storage… D-don't come any closer! Oof!"

"East Storage Block's door has…! No! Get out! Get out! Get out! Uwa~h!"

"Secondary Elevator Hall… No~!"

Several reports began to come in and everyone gasped in horror: they looked pale and about to faint from the nerves.

"Game Tower 1 Supervisor Reporting… Uo~h!"

"Game Tower 2… Groa~h!"

"Crew Tower 3… Don't come in! Gu… Gua~h!"

"Crew Tower 4… We're… Gra~h!"

"Central Tower 5, Honor Hall Control Post…! Nya~h!"

"Central Tower 5, 10F Security Check… Ugra~h!"

"No good! They're gonna climb up right now!" One gasped.

In effect: Battle Wizard showed up inside of the room while several Special Forces men and women climbed up the stairs: the six men quickly lifted their hands.

"Akatsuki! We've captured the Command Bridge! Mission: success!"

"Well done!"

08:32 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Izono Marco and Anaya Maria. You are under arrest and there's no need to list out all the charges brought up against you."

"Yeah. My info was more than enough."

"Vadous! You lowlife! You betrayed us!"

"Obviously."

"Impossible!"

"Not "impossible" at all: you tyrants always say the same thing."

Vadous, Shidou and Acid were standing in the entrance of a large rectangular room divided into three compartments separated by blood red velvet curtains: the central compartment they were in had a large oval-shaped oak table with cushioned armchairs set around it: an elaborated candelabrum was set above it and it shone with a pale yellow halo.

"How dare you!"

"I dare."

The opponents were Izono Marco AKA Mr. Secretary and a woman on her thirties having messy orange-like hair plus cold blue eye irises.

She wore a simple black tunic with long sleeves and a lowered hood.

"Besides… Those two stalker agents were lame. We caught them so easily and you didn't realize 'cause we sent you messages through their communication lines."

"So you lowlife are the one who sprung this!" Izono hissed.

"Yeah. I planted a program named "Red Joker" inside of the mainframes last time I came here when you "commanded" to me to check the defenses to prevent hacking from the outside. It opened a channel to allow my new supercomputer "Black Ace" to supervise and execute each and every one of the steps."

"… Then, the disappearance of the "products" and the "accessories" was…!" Izono made a grimace.

"My men snuck inside using my own portal generator and knocked out the guards. They then brought out the victims and they headed for a prepared section of the Satella Police HQ. They also retrieved their stored belongings as well while we finished the physical sabotage: "Red Joker" took care of the rest." Vadous explained.

"You lowlife…! The reason you're standing here today is because of our work!" Anaya cursed.

"I knew that. But I wouldn't approve of such a criminal act. What would've you done if Rock Man hadn't saved the Earth thrice? Your "Secret Empire" wouldn't have anything left, would it?"

"I could always manage without it!"

"I doubt it. But that's enough talk. The officers and jury will take care of the rest but you will most likely end locked up forever."

"You traitor… You bothersome _clone_!"

"Clone?" Shidou wondered.

"Yeah. I was created through genetic engineering six years ago to be the "antithesis" of someone… And Lartes exists because of the same reason as well…" Vadous shrugged.

"Ah. No big deal. If we could rebuild a Denpa Body – turned human from mere fragments and only being unable to restore the memory of what had destroyed them, then… This is the 23rd century, after all!" Shidou shrugged and looked unimpressed.

"I agree." Acid commented.

Two men and women from the Special Forces came in accompanied by eight Combat Wizards.

"Reduce them." One of the men commanded.

"Roger!"

The Combat Wizard surrounded them while the Special Forces quickly moved and handcuffed both criminals to then guide them out: they began to utter curses aloud but both Vadous and Shidou played deaf.

"So, Anaya Maria's "Secret Empire" is over… What are we gonna do about the victims, though?" Shidou asked with a sigh.

"The Chief and Dr. Yoiri already arranged for a division of psychologists to try to study their cases and see if they can be healed through reintegration in their families… It'll take time and may be the saddest part of this whole affair, yet… We're not all-powerful to solve it all." Vadous sighed.

"Yeah. I can guess that. But I'm sure that some of them still had a bit of "hope" left on them… And their efforts on trying to stay mentally sane have paid off…" Shidou muttered.

"Boss? How's it going over there?" Lartes asked through the radio.

"Ah. Lartes. All's over."

"Thank goodness. I'm heading to Kodama Town with Subaru. He's still getting used again to being who he was, but… At least his case is not as traumatic as those poor children's… And we could prevent a worse catastrophe from happening, too…" Lartes reported.

"Good. I'll leave that front up to you. Akatsuki – kun and I will be going to the Satella Police HQ to wrap things up. Once all data from this place has been collected and analyzed, we're going to demolish it. We don't want "ghosts" to roam around it or criminals trying to "adore" it as the abode of the "greatest criminal ever"…" Vadous told him.

Shidou took out a "Sweet Candy" bar and began to munch at it in his usual manner while Vadous formed a smile.

"Hey. At least this doesn't have side-effects." Shidou defended.

"Apart from accumulating fat and calories?" Acid asked.

"Man." Shidou rolled his eyes.

Vadous smiled and then sighed in relief while looking content…

08:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… G-good morning…"

"… Subaru…!"

"Dear…!"

"Super Hero – sama came~! Heh, heh, heh!"

"War Rock looks animated."

Dr. Lartes had escorted Subaru (having regained his usual appearance and clothes, too) to his house: they rang the bell, so Daigo, Akane and War Rock came out: Subaru nervously greeted them while his parents gasped in surprise and War Rock looked amused.

"Finally…! It's been too long…! Welcome back, Subaru…" Akane looked emotional.

"Welcome back." Daigo told him.

"T-thank you v-very much." He nervously replied.

"Huh? Ah. True… You're still getting used to the new environment… Come in and let's talk."

"Please come in, too, sir." Akane invited Dr. Lartes.

"Thank you very much, ma'am."

They stepped inside and sat down in the sofas: Subaru nervously looked all around the room while War Rock hovered over his right shoulder.

"Yo! Did Area M sneak on you?" War Rock joked.

"Area M…? Wait! That rings a bell… You d-don't mean…!" Subaru muttered but then turned red.

"Oho. So ya remember it, huh? So?"

"N-no way!"

"Pity."

"What "pity" is there to it?"

"Ya sound like a lawyer."

"Not that again…! War Rock…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm a genius at trolling."

"Challenge Omega – san and you'll see how far you are."

"So, Dr. Lartes…" Daigo called out.

"Yes, sir. It's over. The "Secret Empire" will collapse and they will fight each other for supremacy in a new underground _Sengoku_: the police will then be able to round them taking advantage of their weakened status and place tabs on anyone who tries to start it up again."

"Good! Say… Will Subaru return to how he used to be?"

"He should. It might take time, but it's also rather up to him. When one gets used to a manner of being, it's not easy to change into another manner of being."

"We won't complain, then… You've done everything to try to protect him from a greater harm." Akane formed a smile.

"Thank you very much." Lartes thanked.

Subaru distractedly glanced at Dr. Lartes' face and he looked like he was thinking about it.

_To think Master is actually a "clone" of mine 10 years older than me…! It was a surprise… But that explains why his facial traits look so similar to mine when studied side by side…_

"Pst! Area L had a crush on "Albert" but since Area M told about ya then Area L's dreams have crashed into the Earth!" War Rock teased.

"T-that can't be…! Iinchou – san had a crush on "Rock Man"…! Did she not…?"

"Ya know girls: when one vanishes, they quickly seek a replacement for 'em… Heh, heh, heh."

"That can't be good." Subaru grimly muttered.

"Oh. The bell… I'll go." Daigo announced.

He headed towards the entrance and came back along with Misora and Harp: War Rock chuckled and Subaru gulped.

"Hiya, Subaru – kun! It's been a while!"

"It s-sure has, Hibiki – san…"

"Jeez. "Misora – chan" is fine already!"

"Eh… Misora – chan, then… it sounds… eh… rude…"

"Why?"

"Because… eh… we barely know each other and… we are turning too… eh… familiar with each other, so… hum…" He argued.

"Come on! Aren't we "Brothers", Subaru – kun? It's obvious that we'd call each other by our first name!" Misora smiled at him.

"Ah… I hadn't thought of it yet… Sorry."

"Don't feel guilty… Akatsuki – san just contacted me: the tale is over, at last! I feel like a lot of pressure jumped off me, really." Misora sighed in relief.

"Tee, heh, heh. So, Rock… Are you going to bring up the rivalry with Ox to force him into an accelerated re-training?" Harp teased.

"Ya know me!"

"Don't push him, War Rock. If he doesn't feel ready to do Denpa – Henkan again, then don't try to overdo it because it could mean a negative mental stress." Dr. Lartes warned him.

"Che. Ya rob me of the fun!"

"That's the Rock I know. Tee, heh, heh." Harp giggled.

"Anyway… There's gonna be a party at Luna – chan's house, so… Get ready to meet Ms. Perfect." Misora giggled.

"That sounds… bad." Subaru muttered.

"Not at all! You just have to summarize what happened."

"Ah… I'll try to…"

"Be sure not to disappoint that child, Subaru!" Akane told him.

"A-ah… I u-understand…"

"Back at my time…" Daigo began.

"They gave ya a broom?" War Rock joked.

"Rock…" Harp didn't look amused.

"A b-broom…? So I have to cleanse the apartment…?" Subaru asked with a hint of nervousness.

"No… It's a joke!" Misora relieved him.

"N-not like I have anything against cleansing, but it feels strange to have to do that in the middle of a party…"

"Jeez. War Rock. That wasn't funny, man!" Daigo complained.

"It was innovative, I'd say!"

"Innovative… Doubt it…" Harp muttered with a hint of skepticism to her voice.

"Wha~t?" War Rock complained.

"So? When are you going to come up with the Denpa Idiom – Japanese dictionary?" Harp joked.

"Who'd want to come up with that stuff?"

"I'd say Kizamaro – kun and Pedia would." Misora giggled.

"G-guess so…" Subaru timidly muttered.

"Mr. Perfect comes tell ya you're fired." War Rock laughed.

Subaru rolled his eyes while the others giggled or chuckled…

11:33 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So!"

"I apologize!"

"Huh? What?"

"I brought trouble to iinchou – sama, so…"

"What? Ah. That… I wouldn't call it "trouble"…"

"And to think you were desperate the other day…"

"Mode! Chut! Don't say unnecessary stuff!"

"Yo! Subaru! I missed ya!"

"We missed you, really!"

"Buro~! So!"

"Uh-oh. Probabilities of a battle occurring clock at 55%..."

"Whaddya want, bull wannabe?"

"Who is the "bull wannabe", huh?"

"You two… Don't start the war again!"

"They don't learn."

Subaru was bowing in front of Luna while she tried to shrug her earlier disappointment off: Mode looked skeptical, Gonta and Kizamaro looked glad, War Rock and Ox were about to start a war again, Harp tried to stop them, Pedia looked grim and Misora rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Subaru – kun! Act like my Rock Man – sama!"

"Eh… Roger, ma'am…"

"Ah. You don't doubt my authority anymore, then?"

"I apologize if…"

"Luna – chan! Don't try to fool him." Misora protested.

"Che." Luna looked annoyed.

"Saw it coming…" Harp muttered.

"Oi! Where's the buffet?" Gonta asked.

"Heh, heh. It was a matter of time before that so-famous question came out!" Kizamaro looked amused.

"O. K.! Subaru – kun! You better be prepared! You have about a month of missed classes to catch up with!"

"Oh. But I did work with material which I believe Master brought from the official textbooks… And we did have two exams, too, so…"

"Well! We'll have a good look at it. But welcome back, anyhow."

"T-thank you very much."

"Ugly!"

"Your hide!"

"You jerk's hide!"

"Stop it already!"

"Hmpf!"

"Hmpf!"

Ox and War Rock stopped their fight at Harp's insistence and both played the offended: Subaru looked surprised.

"Where's the beef?" Gonta asked.

"Search for it, Gonta – kun!" Kizamaro challenged.

"Yeah. It's gotta be hidden by Luna – chan's spells." Misora giggled.

"I'd rather say by Omega – san's trolling…" Subaru muttered.

"Well then! Let's start the party!" Luna grinned.

Subaru distractedly nodded in agreement and formed a smile on his face…

11:48 AM (Japan Time)…

"… BRAINSSSSS!"

"That doesn't work anymore, Sigma."

"Heh, heh, heh. I do it better, it'd seem."

"Crap."

"Sigma, Omega… What are you doing this time around?"

"You know them, Boss: trolling me."

"Come on! Let's not start this up on this day."

"I'd rather say Queen Tia will start controlling Shidou's inputs of fat and calories…"

"At least she's not a cooking maniac like Dragon…"

"Oh. But Dragon is gonna show up on the Guinness Book of World Records 2204, so…"

"No way…"

Sigma had been trying to scare Blood Shadow, Omega chuckled and Vadous then came in while looking slightly tired: Omega came up with his own trolls much to the exasperation of Vadous.

"Jeez. Today is a day to celebrate! Kir Osh, Daratsu and Kuro Kaze are celebrating and Dragon is still roaming around Confucius' world. Lartes is relieved that everything ended up well and so I am. And one thing: we may relocate to _somewhere else_ after a while…" Vadous told them.

"Oho. I know what ya mean, Boss. It's about time we showed up there to prevent another mess, but, this time, not brought upon by Anaya."

"Yeah. Things are gonna be busy from now onwards." Vadous added.

"Sure. We'll have to count the thirty-six bells of doom once again and then Ms. Moon will come tell us we're fired." Omega laughed.

"Jeez. There's no stopping you." Vadous grumbled.

"BRAINSSSS!" Sigma laughed.

"Very funny." Blood Shadow drily told him.

"So?" Sigma asked.

"I'm not confused anymore: I don't mind being Subaru - kun's lookalike since he accepts me as a "friend", too." Blood Shadow calmly replied with a smile.

"Bertie~!" Omega uttered.

"I do think he is over there, Sir Omega." Blood Shadow signaled the exit door of the room.

"Let's go catch Bertie Saxby, Sigma!"

"Roger, sir!"

Both he and Omega ran out while Vadous looked surprised at their behavior.

"BRAINSSSSS!" Both uttered.

"There's no stopping them when they're excited… Anyway… Blood. Feel free to ask anything when you have doubts. I'm sure you'll be questioning things from time to time but such is your nature."

"Thank you, Boss. I'll work at my hardest, too."

"That's the spirit. I'm off to relaxing for a few hours: you can go and wander around if you want to. I guess Solo is already training hard in the Black Hole Server, too, by now…" Vadous stretched.

"Roger! I'm eager to explore new horizons." Blood Shadow smiled.

"And now we can be "free" from Anaya's tyranny… So, we've achieved our goal of being "free"…" Vadous sounded satisfied.

"And I have a life to live, even as an android. What excitement!"

Vadous directed a smile at Blood Shadow and he nodded in agreement: their adventures were yet to begin…

20:08 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Stars… I can't help but feel attracted to them. Well… I guess I'm called "Shooting Star Rock Man" for something…"

"Heh, heh, heh. We're gonna shine again after being so rusty, Subaru! And I'm gonna tell that Bloody Shadowy guy to run for his skin when the Zombie Club shows up."

"Jeez."

Subaru had changed into navy blue pajamas with golden shooting stars drawn on them: he was standing next to his bed and looking out at the night skies with his telescope as War Rock joked.

"I feel sleepy… Too much happened today! But this not the conclusion of everything… I have to slowly regain my previous self and memories along the way… But I will always try to help out people in trouble. It's my duty as part of the Satella Police Special Forces, after all!" Subaru grinned.

"And ya gotta sneak into Area M to check ya-know-what's-color."

"No way!" Subaru groaned.

"Heh, heh, heh. That motto I overheard was useful, then."

"War Rock… You're fond of trolling. But you still have a long way to go before trying to catch up with Omega – san." Subaru challenged.

"Wha~t? Then I won't lose no matter what!" War Rock exclaimed.

Subaru lifted his bed's coverings and slipped inside: War Rock loomed over him making a scary face and Subaru gasped before he laughed and jumped inside of the Hunter – VG.

"Good night!" War Rock laughed.

"Good night, War Rock!"

Subaru closed his eyes and soon feel asleep with a grin on his face: new adventures were waiting for him…

**THE END**


End file.
